The Perfect Weapon
by FutureKing
Summary: Xander is almost killed sometime in season four. The Initiative takes possession of his body and turns him into the perfect weapon for battling the XMen.
1. Chapter 1

Author: ArchSolari

Disclaimer: I own nothing that has anything to do with BTVS or X-  
Men, 'cause let's face it: if I did, I'd be RICH

Xander is almost killed sometime in season four. The Initiative takes  
possession of his body and turns him into the perfect weapon for  
battling the X-men.

A/N: This is the first fic I've had the balls to post. Be Gentle.  
Also, starts out 'Evil' Xander but that will change.

Rating: R for Violence and Language. (May go to NC-17 in the future.)

Prologue   
"Gentlemen," A woman in a lab coat with short blonde hair  
said, her voice demanding attention. "I present to you, the perfect  
weapon." The woman stood at the head of a long table, every seat  
filled was filled with a man in some military uniform. The woman  
stood behind a podium, and beside her was a young man. Behind them  
both was a projector screen that remained blank for the moment.  
"I am sorry, Mrs.…" One of them men said, an Army General by  
his uniform.  
"Doctor," The woman corrected.  
"My apologies, Doctor Walsh, but we have heard this all  
before, at least three other people have come before us, saying  
those exact same words, The solution to the mutant menace'. They  
all proved a failure at best, a catastrophe at worst. Frankly I am  
skeptical," The general said.  
"I completely understand your reluctance General, however; I  
ask the benefit of the doubt."  
"Very well, explain you're Perfect Weapon' to us, Doctor  
Walsh," The general said.  
"Well," The Doctor began, clicking her thumb on the slide  
sorter in her hand, a slide popped up. The slide contained a blank  
human body on one side; in the top left corner was a list of topics,  
and on the right a picture of what appeared to be an artificial  
bug. "We adapted, and improved upon, these nanites, originally  
designed two years ago by an unimportant scientist."  
"Unimportant? What was this scientist's name?" The General  
asked.  
"Bruce Banner," The woman said which caused an immediate  
effect. She grew angry and slammed her fist on the podium, "You   
promised to hear me out, and that's exactly what you are going to   
do."  
"Alright," the general said, his tone, however; showed that  
he would no longer be listening.  
"Okay, using these nanites, we have been able to recreate an  
accelerated healing process, that is on par with the X-Men's'  
Logan, AKA Wolverine. Also, in addition to this, we have been able  
to refine and lighten the metal Adamantium and graft it to his  
bones. The result of this is a faster more agile specimen, with the  
nearly indestructible skeletal system of previous experiments.  
Instead of the claws the previous specimen was equipped with, a  
single twelve inch blade, two inches in width, is housed in both the   
specimen's forearms. With the proper exertion of muscles, the blade  
exits the forearm at the top of the wrist," Walsh finished.  
"Wonderful, you have created a bigger and better Weapon X, and  
look how well that turned out," A different general said.  
"That is not all; that is hardly all." The professor said.  
She clicked the button again, this time the non-descript human  
appeared; only this time to is other side was a human that was  
completely black and vaguely metallic.  
"In addition to an Adamantium skeleton, the specimen has the  
ability to change it's epidermis from flesh to the same metal  
grafted to his skeleton," The doctor said.  
"What! That's impossible!" The general said.  
"Not only is it possible, but it has been done, and the  
metal counterpart retains the flexibility of the flesh."  
"How," The first general asked, intrigued now.  
"I will not bore you with details, suffice to say that the  
nanites that course through his system will release a compound when  
they come in contact with a specific electrical impulse that travels  
from the brain, this compound causes a reaction when it comes in  
contact with the epithelium of the outer epidermis. Because of the  
formation, the metal becomes like a microscopic mail, completely  
retaining its flexibility. In addition to near invulnerability, the  
Adamantium skin gives off a negative polarity that completely  
nullifies any outside electrical charge," Walsh said.  
"So he's immune to lightening?" The general asked a gleam in  
his eyes.  
"Yes, I thought it prudent to include that particular  
defensive measure given the files on one of the primary targets,"  
Walsh said.  
"I am impressed so far Walsh, continue" The general said.  
"Well, in addition to the Adamantium grafted to his  
skeleton, we have shielded the inside of the specimen's skull with  
an alloy discovered in use by the mutant known as Magneto. It is  
believed that this alloy, which was used to construct the mutant's  
helmet, is able to block the abilities of the mutant Charles  
Xavier." Walsh concluded.  
"Very good, Doctor Walsh," The general said. "But how were  
you able to create this shield inside the skull?"  
"This was possible with the use of the nanites, General,  
they make all this possible," she said, pride in her voice, "We  
merely injected the alloy, in liquid form, into the specimen's blood   
stream. The nanites collected the alloy and were able to build the  
shield inside the skull with minimal cerebral damage."  
"Also, using technology I have pioneered, I have increased  
the specimen's strength, speed and agility ten-fold. The strength of  
the specimen, when used in conjunction with the metal grafting,  
produces an overwhelmingly powerful force." Walsh said.  
"Doctor Walsh, in the past we have had nearly perfect  
weapons before that went AWOL and were unable to comply with some  
orders, how can you ensure that this will not be a problem?" The  
general asked, extremely interested now.  
"We have implanted microchips in the specimen's cerebral  
cortex, hypothalamus, and thalamus, which can completely alter the  
electric currents that cause the brain to function, effectively  
hardwiring our will into the specimen's brain," Walsh said.  
"Doctor Walsh, how could you convince any person to  
volunteer for this experiment?" The general asked.  
"Well, the young man was attacked and nearly killed in his  
home town, where upon my associates and I were able to retrieve him  
and keep the boy alive. He was reduced to a catatonic state from the  
attack. His only listed next of kin were his parents, an Anthony and  
Jessica Harris. We made contact with Anthony Harris and explained  
the situation. He readily agreed to donate his son's body to the  
betterment of humankind. His exact words were If it will get rid of  
those Muties, we're all for it. Because of the top secret nature of  
this experiment, we believed it best to let those in association  
with the boy believe him dead." Walsh said. The reaction from the  
room ranged from indifferent to outrage at the doctor's methods.  
"Well, Doctor, this sounds far too good to be true what, as  
they say, is the downside?" The first general asked.  
"The cost, General, as usual. This particular specimen cost  
the government 2.4 million dollars to produce," Walsh said. The  
general frowned at this news, "However, his particular design is a   
special case, since he is a prototype and I was forced to purchase  
certain technologies, for every subsequent soldier I estimate the  
cost at much less. I also would point out that you would need very  
few of these, a squad, perhaps. Six of these superior soldiers would  
completely decimate any force before them. They are virtually  
indestructible, they cannot second guess orders, and are equally  
effective against human targets, mutant targets and super natural  
targets."  
"Ah yes, I was wondering when we would come to that,  
these Hostile Sub-Terrestrials', I am doubtful about their  
existence."  
"Believe me general, they exist. In fact, the physiological  
enhancements I have made to Alexander here come directly from  
experiments with HSTs."  
"Well, that is not my concern. How you're boy performs is  
what I am concerned with," the general smiled. Doctor Walsh smiled  
back; something almost resembling pride adorned her face.  
"I believe that Alexander will not only pass any test you  
place before him, but do so with ease." Walsh allowed the smile to  
shift a challenging smirk. 

Alexander stood alone in the center of a large white room. Its  
dimensions were a perfect cube, which had a single window high above  
through which Dr. Walsh and the General now gazed down upon him.  
"Words of caution, general, do not send anything you do not  
want destroyed into that room." Walsh said from beside him.  
"A bit over confident in your little experiment are you?"  
The general asked.  
"Not at all, General Ross, not at all." Walsh said.  
Meanwhile, Alexander waited in the middle of the room. His  
orders were simple: destroy whatever entered the room. Doors on  
every side of him opened. Men with guns rushed into the room, taking  
positions surrounding him, Alexander waited while they set up and  
trained their weapons on him. He heard the faint click of the safety  
on a gun being flicked off. Accepting that as his signal to begin,  
he sent the mental command that would release the compound to  
activate his armor. Almost instantly his skin turned a stealthy  
black, as the armor covered his body, leaving only his eyes  
vulnerable.   
The armor finished its reaction just as the first bullet  
struck him, center mass. The bullet bounce harmlessly off his  
Adamantium skin, ricocheting back into the wall to Alexander's left.  
He leapt forward, as the bullets peppered his armored body. His  
right hand lifted the man in front of him, as the blade in his left   
forearm extended, the armor Adamantium parted to allow the blade to  
exit. Alexander's left arm surged forward and the blade pierced  
into the soldier's stomach, exiting his back. The Kevlar that was  
supposed to protect him had been shredded like paper as the  
Adamantium blade cut through it. He pulled his arm back, and blood  
welled from the wound, spraying its red mess all over Alexander.  
Alexander tossed the man absently into the group of soldiers to his  
right, causing them to fall like pins hit by a bowling ball.  
The nearest soldier rushed at him, firing rounds as he  
closed the distance between them. The artificially enhanced human  
grabbed the barrel of the gun when the man was in range. He yanked  
the weapon from the soldier's hands, spinning it in a single motion.  
The barrel of the rifle was thrust through the man's throat, exiting  
through the back of the soldier's neck. He aimed over the  
unfortunate soldier's shoulder and fired a burst into the face of  
the soldier behind him. Without turning, his left hand stretched out  
behind him, the retractable blade piercing the eye of the soldier  
who had attempted to sneak up behind him. He released the gun and  
retracted the arm blade at the same time. The soldier who was held  
up by the gun fell to the ground as the blood squirted from his  
throat. The other soldier fell to the ground instantly dead. The  
remaining soldiers began to flee out the doors they had entered  
through, Alexander merely stood at attention, his blood-soaked hands  
behind his back.   
"Does he meet your satisfaction, General Ross?" Walsh asked  
in a coy tone.  
"Almost, Doctor, there is another test for him, that was  
merely the warm-up round." Ross said.   
A door to Alexander's left opened, revealing a giant red and   
purple robot. It took a single step into the testing room, and   
glared down at Alexander.  
"Target Identified: Terminate." It intoned. Its palm raised,  
a hole opened in it. From the palm fired a brilliant bombardment of  
red balls, landing at Alexander's position. As the light show ended,  
and the smoke began to clear, the shadowy outline of a single man  
stood in the center, unscathed. The figure leapt into action,  
shooting out of the smoke. Faster than the robot's sensors could  
track, Alexander closed the distance between himself and the  
machine. Both blades extended simultaneously, He rolled between the  
giant robot's legs, coming to his feet behind it, bringing his arms  
together in a scissor like movement he sheared the machine's left  
leg in half. Unable to maintain its balance, the machine dropped to  
the training room floor. Alexander leapt onto the right side of the   
robot's head; he crouched down, and slammed his whole arm, blade  
first, into the robot's eye. Alexander pulled his arm out, and  
jumped off the head of the Sentinel, flipping in mid air. Landing  
perfectly, he once against stood at attention as the head of the  
Sentinel exploded behind him.  
"Well, are you sold?" Walsh asked after a moment.  
"Well that depends, does he come with a money back  
guarantee?" Ross asked.  
"No, but we do offer a lifetime free oil change," Walsh  
said, a victorious grin crossing her lips.

Chapter One  
"I present to you, the perfect answer to the problems that have been   
plaguing us for so long, gentlemen," General Ross said. He smiled  
grimly at the three men standing in front of him, his hand falling  
on the young man's shoulder. Alexander remained at attention as the  
general spoke; he was now outfitted with a black visor. Ross had  
ordered him to wear it at all times, as it not only protected his  
vulnerable eyes from attack but the computerized interface would  
filter out any of the blinding powers possessed by a target mutant.  
"We are eagerly anticipating his first field trial,  
General," one of the men said, an icy smile on his lips.  
"Well, you may not need to wait long, gentlemen," Walsh's  
voice interrupted the meeting, "The nemesis of the X-Men,  
Juggernaut, has been spotted in Canada. It is believed that the X-  
men will show up shortly, and I advise sending Alexander to meet  
him."  
"I agree, Doctor Walsh, this will be a perfect test for  
Alexander. In the past, if my intelligence on the subject can be  
trusted, it has required a combine effort of the X-Men to disable  
this enemy of theirs. If Alexander can handle him alone, it will  
leave few doubts of his ability to dispose of these hated Mutants,"  
The man who had been speaking with the general said.  
"I would ask, Sir, we be allowed to capture  
this Unstoppable Force'. It would be instrumental to further  
research and experimentation due to the mystical origin of his  
abilities," Walsh said.  
"Very well," The man said.  
"And I would ask Alexander not engage the X-men at this  
time," The general said, getting looks thrown in his  
direction, "against the Juggernaut alone he should be able to  
prevail, but against both the Juggernaut and the X-Men at the same  
time, I think would be an unneeded risk. Also, should we choose  
later this non-invasive maneuver on our part now could lead to an  
insertion of Alexander to the ranks of the X-men. This would grant  
us access not only to more information on the X-men, but also any  
other mutant threat they have come across," Ross said at length.  
"I agree, General" the man said, "You have you're orders,  
soldier, make us proud." Alexander made no move to acknowledge what  
the man said, with the exception of the slightest inclination of his   
head.  
The general lead Alexander away from the group, because of  
the nature of his soldier; very little equipment was needed for  
Alexander to perform at his optimal level. When the boy was brought  
before him for the first time, Ross had been skeptical of his  
abilities. For the last five months he had been training and testing  
the experimental enhanced soldier. He passed every test, with the  
exception of one. A lucky shot, in one of Alexander's tests put a  
bullet directly into the young man's left eye. Due to the nature of  
his metallic skeleton, the bullet ricocheted inside the boy's skull  
doing far more extensive damage. Thankfully, the nanites work  
independently, not only to keep the boy's life signs functional, but  
also to repair all the damage cause by the bullet in less than  
fifteen minutes. At that time, the general researched the visor the  
boy now wore. The designers had claimed the material the visor was  
made from would take up to a .50 caliber round. The general himself  
had fired several shots from his .45 caliber sidearm to test the  
material, and it performed as advertised.  
A welcome, but unexpected, addition to this was the bright light  
filter, which caused the boy to be immune to blinding measures  
implied by some mutants, like Dazzler and Jubilee of the X-men. This  
was of course tested, and the subject showed no adverse affects from  
the dozens of flash bang grenades that went off directly in front of  
him.  
The general and Alexander walked side-by-side to the waiting  
Blackhawk. Inside the general was extremely pleased with the  
reaction time of his team. With only fifteen minutes warning the  
team that would accompany Alexander was briefed and prepped. They  
were already awaiting the general's arrival when he came to a stop  
in front of the helicopter. The leader of the team, a Lt. Roberts,  
stood by the chopper, a large manila folder in his hand.  
"General, all the information we have on the target," Roberts said.  
"Very good, Lieutenant, I trust you can brief yourself and form a  
strategy while in route, Alexander?" The general said, as he handed  
the folder, unopened; to Alexander.  
"Yes sir," the young man said crisply, as he took the folder.  
"The target will be crossing the border into New York at Niagara in  
one hour, in ninety minutes I want you on your way back here, target  
on board, understood soldier?" the general asked.  
"Sir, yes sir," The enhanced soldier affirmed.  
"Good, get going," The general said, turning to walk away.

The Unstoppable Juggernaut has crossed the US/Canada border at 1630  
hours, at Niagara. The X-men were waiting for him when he did. The  
battle was like the dozen or so other battles the X-men and  
Juggernaut had fought in the past. The X-men tried desperately to  
remove the mystical helmet that gave the Juggernaut his power. The  
Juggernaut, for his part, was happy to merely bat them away as he  
always did, hoping that one might fall to his or her doom, or maybe  
break his or her neck on some form of debris. Truly, he was too  
stupid to realize he could kill them all rather easily if he just  
tried a little harder.  
All this, however, changed when the X-man known as Iceman was kicked  
particularly hard over the edge of the waterfalls. In her anger  
Rogue, Iceman's girlfriend, latched onto one of the bare arms of the  
Juggernaut, her bare hand touching his skin. As she drained his life  
force, the Juggernaut began to grow weak. He flailed his arms,  
trying to dislodge the offending mutant. Due to the origin of his  
powers, Rogue was unable to mimic them and on one particularly  
frenzied swing she was launched far over the waterfalls.  
Thankfully for them both, Iceman had regained control of his fall  
and created an ice sled which he was riding back to the fight as he  
saw Rogue flying over his head. He launched himself after her,  
saving her last minute in typical X-men fashion. Unable to drain  
Juggernaut's powers did not keep her from taking his personality in,  
however. In her anger-educed insanity, she began to beat on Iceman,  
before her hand slapped onto his bare face. They both went crashing  
to the ground as Iceman lost control of his sled, they were only a  
few feet over the ground and received no serious wounds, but Iceman  
was unconscious from contact with Rogue's draining ability. Rogue for   
her part, now clear minded was distraught over the form of her   
boyfriend.  
Cyclops and Storm, two of the more well-known members of the X-men  
blasted away at Juggernaut with their powers, while Colossus and  
Wolverine did their best to distract the behemoth. Colossus' steel  
skin protected him from most of the blow that caught him completely  
unaware. However the force of the blow was enough to knock him off  
his feet, and launch him directly into Cyclops, who was firing a  
beam of red solar energy from his eyes. As he saw Colossus' approach  
he turned the beam off to avoid friendly fire. It occurred to him, a  
moment too late, that Colossus' trajectory put him right in the away.  
Cyclops had just sent the command for his leg muscles to drop as  
Colossus smacked into him, forcing both of them to continue to a few  
feet away.  
Wolverine had used the momentary distraction of the huge bolt of  
lightning that struck The Juggernaut, stunning him, to leap onto the  
much bigger mutant's back. As he climbed up, ready to strike the  
helmet off and finish this battle, Storm noticed him too late, the  
second bolt she had called to increase the length of Juggernaut's  
stunned stupor was attracted instead to the claw protruding from  
Wolverine's vertically extended hand. The lightning washed over  
Logan's body, before leaping to the Juggernaut. The reversed  
magnetic field that formed from the jump between the metal of  
Logan's skeleton and the armor the Juggernaut wore forced the two  
apart. The results were spectacular. The Juggernaut fell to his  
knees from the force. Wolverine however, was not so lucky. The stocky  
mutant was forced back, launched a hundred yards away and over the  
cliff. Down he fell, impacting with the water and rocks at the  
bottom of the falls.  
Juggernaut stood slowly, shaking off his stupor. He glared down at  
Storm, the only X-man remaining to face him. He walked towards her  
menacingly.  
"Now you die, Weather Witch," Juggernaut said. His huge beefy hand  
caught her around the throat as he lifted her far off the ground.  
The black woman's hands wrapped around the hand that was choking the  
life from her, She called the earth to her assistance, wind rushed  
around them. The wind however, was no problem for the huge  
Juggernaut; he just leaned into it, his hand tightening around the X-  
man's throat. The wind ripped at the Witch's white hair, causing it  
to lash back and forth. Slowly, as the woman's eyes began to roll  
back, the winds died until her hair lay strewn about the witches  
face and the Juggernaut's hand. Suddenly the wind picked back up  
again, startled by the wind and the sudden noise that caught his  
ear, Juggernaut looked up. Caught up in his apparent victory, somehow he had not heard the giant Blackhawk helicopter that now hovered  
over him. From the chopper a single man, covered from head to toe in   
black dropped down onto the Juggernaut.  
The Unstoppable Juggernaut released the unconscious Storm from his  
grip and grabbed at the armor covered form on his back. As the woman  
hit the ground he felt the figure position its legs under him and  
leap off, flipping backwards to land a few feet away. The Juggernaut   
turned to face this new opponent, snarling in rage.  
"I will crush you!" The Juggernaut screamed, bringing its hands down  
in a double hammer blow where Alexander stood. Somehow the young  
man danced away, using the now grounded hands as a stepping stone  
the boy leapt up towards the Juggernaut's lowered face. His left  
hand collided with the side of the Juggernaut's head in an amazingly  
powerful blow, actually jarring the Juggernaut. The Governmental  
experiment landed with a roll on the ground. The Juggernaut roared  
its defiance and slapped at the nimble young man. Alexander ducked a  
moment late, but instead of being launched yards away the blow only  
caught his shoulder, forcing him to roll away. He didn't waste a  
moment, returning to his feet. The mystically powered behemoth  
grabbed at the much smaller man, who was able to narrowly avoid the  
hand. He rolled between the giant's legs, coming to his feet behind  
the Juggernaut. Deciding it was time to end the fight, Alexander  
leapt high onto the back of the much slower Juggernaut. Grabbing  
onto the back of the armor at the neck with one hand, Alexander  
pulled his feet up under him, between the Juggernaut's shoulder  
blades. Putting his weight onto his legs Alexander used his left  
hand to keep himself steady.  
The Juggernaut heard an all too familiar sound, as the shhknt' of  
the forearm blade in Alexander's right arm extended. Alexander  
wedged the blade into the part of the armor between the helmet and  
collar. Forcing his arm down with all his strength, the helmet  
loosened. The latches holding the helmet on buckled under the force  
and shot off. The helmet fell from the Juggernaut's head, leaving  
the behemoth's head vulnerable. Retracting the blade, Alexander  
smashed his right hand into the back of Juggernaut's neck, causing  
the giant to stumble. As his power drained, the Juggernaut fell to  
his knees. Another powerful blow to the back of the giant's head,  
roughly jarring the occipital lobe, caused the Juggernaut to be  
blinded. Alexander dropped from his place on the back of the giant.  
He walked calmly in front of the suitably oblivious Juggernaut, just  
outside of the flailing arms. He casually picked up the fallen  
helmet. Hefting it like a shield the young man bashed the side of  
the giant's head with his own protective helmet. The Juggernaut  
flailed one last time before falling to the rest of the ground,  
unconscious. Alexander tapped the button on his visor that would  
signal the Blackhawk to return.

Rogue watched as the single man defeated an enemy that the  
combined X-men were unable to best. She stood to go speak with him  
when she noticed the military chopper, which had dropped him off,  
return. Soldiers dropped from the helicopter, quickly securing ropes  
to Juggernaut, which began to hoist him up, Alexander leapt onto the  
back of his defeated foe, riding him up to the chopper, helmet in  
hand. The soldiers climbed back up the ropes they had lapelled down  
and the chopper took off, vanishing into the distance.  
"Ugh, what hit me?" She heard her boyfriend ask, shaking her  
from her reverie.  
"I did, I'm so sorry Bobby," She said.  
"It's okay. Where are the others? Did they beat Juggernaut?"  
Bobby asked.  
"I think they are okay, I think Logan and Storm are hurt  
badly though. Professor? Can you hear me?" Rogue asked aloud.  
"Yes Rogue, I hear you loud and clear." Charles Xavier  
communicated to Rogue's mind. Kurt and Kitty are on their way to  
you're position. I believe that Ororo will be fine.  
"Alright, let's go check on the others and get everyone  
together." Bobby said as he began to stand up slowly. Bobby and  
Rogue quickly made their way over to a recovering Cyclops and  
Colossus. The leader of the X-men was rubbing his head.  
"What happened?" Scott Summers asked.  
"You got hit by a huge piece of flying steel?" Bobby asked  
with his classic grin.  
"Shut up Drake, where is Juggernaut?" Scott asked.  
"That's a long story, lets get everyone together first,"  
Rogue said. The group walked over to Storm's position, Scott quickly  
checked her vitals and found them, weak but steady.  
"Where is Logan?" Colossus asked, his strong Russian accent  
sounding concerned.  
"I'm right here, Ruskie," Logan said, as he climbed over the  
cliff he had fallen from. His uniform was missing from mid-chest up,  
and his hair had fallen around his face, dripping with water.  
"Look what the cat dragged in," Bobby said, Logan did indeed  
look like a wet cat; he looked about as happy as one too.  
"Oh Ro. Wait till I get my hands on you, girl." Logan said  
gruffly.  
"She was hurt badly by Juggernaut, Logan" Rogue said.  
Logan's eyes immediately darkened at her words.  
"Where is that scrap metal at?" Logan said, the tell-tale  
sounds of his anger, in the form of a "shhknt".  
"Funny you should mention scrap metal' cause that's  
exactly what he looked like when the other guy and those soldiers  
hauled his sorry ass outta here." Rogue said.  
"What are you talkin' bout, Southern?" Logan asked.  
"There was another guy that showed up. Right as Juggernaut  
was bout to kill Storm. Saved her life and kicked Juggernaut's  
metal ass."  
"One guy?" Bobby asked.  
"Yea, he was amazing. Really fast and really strong too. He  
hit Juggernaut and made him stumble." Rogue said.  
"Big deal, I've seen Scott hit him and make him fall down,"  
Logan said.  
"With his fist" Rogue clarified.  
"Whoa," Bobby said. Further conversation was cut short by  
the appearance of the Blackbird. Kurt Wagner, AKA NightCrawler, and  
Kitty Pryde, AKA Shadow Cat, walked down the ramp after the jet  
landed.  
"Logan, help me with Storm," Cyclops said. Together the two  
men lifted Storm onto the jet and they departed back to the School  
for Gifted Children'. 

"Thank you, Rogue," Charles said, taking his hands from his  
student's forehead. "This is most interesting and disturbing," he  
said after a moment. "I can't say I trust the obvious military ties  
this new young man has. I would endeavor to find out more about him  
if we can. Scott, I want you on the look out at all times. We must  
find out if this man will become a threat to us, and we must learn  
of my step-brother's fate."

Alexander stood quietly at attention before General Ross and  
the other VIP's who were before him.  
"Lady's and Gentlemen, I present to you, our perfect weapon.  
Alexander L. Harris, Codenamed Adamant Guardian. A little play on  
the words if you will." Ross let a humoring grin cross his features.  
The assembled group allowed a moment of slight laughter, before he  
continued. "This man is the culmination of years of work and  
millions of dollars. He is designed for a single purpose; he is  
driven to that end. Tomorrow, at 0600 hours he will fulfill his  
purpose. He will destroy the X-men."

Archsolari 


	2. Chapter 2

Author: ArchSolari  
Disclaimer: I own nothing that has anything to do with BTVS or X-  
Men, 'cause let's face it: if I did, I'd be RICH  
Summery: Xander is almost killed sometime in season four. The   
Initiative takes possession of his body and turns him into the   
perfect weapon for battling the X-men.  
A/N: Thanks for all the feedback. I hope I can entertain you all  
with this little story.   
Rating: R for Violence and Language. (May go to NC-17 in the future.)

Last time: "This man is the culmination of years of work and  
millions of dollars. He is designed for a single purpose; he is  
driven to that end. Tomorrow, at 0600 hours he will fulfill his  
purpose. He will destroy the X-men."

Chapter 2

Logan, AKA Wolverine, strode out the front door of the X-  
Mansion. He scratched his head, his bleary eyes still slightly  
glazed from the large quantity of beer he had consumed the night  
before. He glared at his fellow X-Man, Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops.  
The six o'clock wake up call had been his idea. "We have to find out about this guy before it comes back to   
bite us in the ass, Logan," Cyclops had said. Logan had agreed, at  
least in his head, with his reasoning. That didn't mean he had to  
let that punk know it. Being the teams' two most experienced  
members; they had decided to go out alone.

Logan strode slowly towards the fancy car Scott now drove, his  
mind elsewhere as he recalled the details Rogue had imparted about  
the young man they were now looking for. Parts of the boy were far  
too familiar. He obviously had enhanced sense like Logan did, and  
the blades that extended from inside the boy's arm had hit far too  
close to home. Logan was broken from his reverie when an odd scent  
hit his nose. To Logan's enhanced sense, every person had a smell  
that was unique to them.  
The smell that wafted up Logan's nostrils was unknown but some  
how familiar. That was not the only odd part of the scent. Connected  
to the unique trait was usually an emotion that the person was  
feeling. The more strongly present when the person felt that emotion  
more strongly. The most common smells were anger, fear, happiness  
and lust. This scent however was completely devoid of any emotion.  
The only time Logan had experienced this phenomenon in the past was  
against Sentinels.

He was about to yell a warning to Scott when his ears picked up  
an almost inaudible sound from behind him. Logan turned quickly and  
saw only the closed doors of the mansion. He frowned, something was  
definitely wrong.

"Hurry up Logan," Scott said, then shouted "Look out!"  
Logan looked up just in time to see a dim figure, almost  
invisible in the pre-dawn light, detach from the roof and launch  
straight at him. Logan danced back; avoiding the vicious snap kick  
his apparent enemy sent his way. Logan lowered his eyes, glowing at  
the form.

"You picked the wrong guy, Bub." Logan said, his six, twelve  
inch Adamantium claws springing from his hands. The figure looked at  
him, smirking and motioned his fingers in the most universal signal  
in the world. Bring. It. On.

Without further encouragement, Logan leapt at his foe, slashing  
and kicking faster than humanly possible. The figure however, was  
faster. With speeds believed impossible, but not at the level of a  
mutant named Quicksilver, The figure managed to duck, weave or flip  
out of Wolverine's attacks. For his part, Logan was becoming   
frustrated. The man obviously lacked in the skill department,   
because Logan often caught him in a move that would kill a lesser   
man. However, the figure managed to use his amazing speed and   
reflexes to get out of every maneuvered trap.

Scott was watching the two fight, half in astonishment, half in   
frustration. He was astonished that anyone had managed to fight   
Wolverine for six and a half minutes completely on the defensive.   
With his speed and reflexes the figure had many opportunities to   
attack and perhaps injure the furious Wolverine. Either the boy was  
not skilled enough to capitalize, or he was teasing with Wolverine.  
Not even Logan's arch-enemies, who knew him better then anyone,  
would dare tease the berserker like this. They would battle him with  
everything they had, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. But a  
fight never lasted this long without a hit being scored by either  
side.

Scott was frustrated because, despite (or because of) his  
yells, Wolverine would not move enough for Scott to get a shot off  
without also hitting the short mutant. He watched, feeling utterly  
useless as the two battled, he knew if Logan could not score a hit  
against their opponent he had no hope to. He knew he was better off  
waiting where he was for the slight chance he would have at hitting  
the man with an optic blast.

"Fight me you coward," Wolverine growled angrily. This seemed  
to stun the man, if only for a moment, and Logan managed to rake his   
claws against the figure's face. Bloody streaks crossed Wolverine's  
enemies, Logan followed quickly with a kick to the inside of his  
opponent's knee, forcing it to break. As the figure dropped to his  
knees, a pained gasp echoed through the night. Logan looked down at  
his disabled enemy. He raised his claws to finish him.

"Logan, stop. He's beaten, you can't kill him." Logan looked  
back at Scott. His eyebrow raised, combined with the gleam in  
Wolverine's eyes said Are you outta you're goddamn mind?' He was  
about to give Scott a piece of his mind when Cyclops gasped in  
surprise. Wolverine quickly turned back around to look at  
his defeated foe'. Instead of the disabled man he expected to find,  
he saw a young man standing on a once broken kneecap. The three  
identical claw marks on his face stitching closed, apparently on its  
own. Wolverine's eyebrow raised more. The figure grinned manically  
at him as two blades popped out from his forearms at the top of the   
wrists.

"Oh Crap," Wolverine muttered, remembering the scent now. He  
had smelled it the day before at the site of their battle with  
Juggernaut. Wolverine jumped at his opponent, his claws coming down  
heavily. Alexander raised his arm, catching the claws on his forearm  
blade. Adamantium met Adamantium, sparks ensued.

A cold hand wrapped tightly around Logan's wrist, holding it  
firmly in place. With a growl he attacked with the other hand. As it  
swung down its course towards Alexander's chest, before it was  
caught in Alexander's free hand. A power struggle was created, a  
power struggle that Logan was fated to lose.

'God he's strong', Logan thought. 'Faster and stronger, probably  
more agile too, but we both know I am a better fighter.' Even as the  
thought crossed his mind, the boy did something completely  
unexpected, a move that Wolverine would have done himself. Alexander  
flipped backwards while keeping Logan's wrists in his hands. Both of  
Alexander's Adamantium-laced feet struck Logan right on the chin.  
The blow was so powerful that Logan's entire brain was jarred, his  
vision fogged, he may even have stumbled, had the boy not kept his  
wrists in his hands. Somehow, Alexander's shoulder joint did a  
complete 360 degree rotation, and he stood in front of Logan as he  
had before. Alexander's body tensed as his feet lifted off the  
ground once more. Logan was under the impression that he would be  
kicked again when the soles of the feet were planted firmly on his  
chest. Alexander stretched his legs out completely, pulling both of  
Logan's arms out of the sockets before he rolled back, kicking  
Wolverine completely over him and into the Mansion behind them.  
Logan moaned as his slummed painfully to the grassy ground. He  
struggled to get up, managing to get to his knees, his shoulder  
joint already knitting back together. He looked up into the young  
man's face. A visor hid what Logan knew were emotionless eyes. A  
thin blade pierced Logan's throat, another stabbed into his chest.  
Logan moaned before slumping over, unconscious as his healing factor  
worked to repair the massive damage.

Alexander had only a moment to dodge the red blast some sixth  
sense told him was shooting at his back. As he rolled away from the  
beam, a huge chunk of the mansion was blown open. Cyclops' eyes  
widened in the realization of what he had done, he prayed that no  
one had been hurt with his blast. Alexander kipped up from his roll,   
growling at the guilty X-man. Now in the clear, Alexander rolled and  
ducked out of the way of a barrage of almost constant optic blasts,  
all the time moving closer to Cyclops. Soon he was almost at point  
blank range and Alexander knew he wouldn't be able to dodge the  
blasts any longer. He dodged to the left as Cyclops fired his next  
blast; Alexander's luck ran out as the blast caught him on his  
descending shoulder. The blow, more powerful then Alexander had ever  
felt, knocked him onto his back and forced him to slide a few feet  
back. Capitalizing on his attack, Scott fired another. Just as the  
next blast came, Alexander raised his Adamantium armor. The blast  
hit him square, pushing him back further still, until he lay next to  
the unconscious Wolverine. He stood up slowly, his hand reached out,  
dragging the knocked out mutant in front of him.

Scott was about to fire yet another blast when he held off,  
fearful of hitting Wolverine. Alexander pushed forward, stalking  
closer to Cyclops, his black armor glinting off the early dawn's  
light. The blasts from Cyclops' eyes had almost completely destroyed  
the black special ops camo Alexander had been issued. Just as Scott  
had decided that Logan's safety was not as important as his own,   
Alexander launched Logan at Scott. Scott easily ducked the other   
mutant, and Logan shot over Cyclops' head. Scott started to stand   
up, fingers on his visor; when he met Alexander's fist. The powerful  
blow caught Scott completely off guard as it met with his cheek,  
sending him sprawling to the ground. Alexander leapt onto him,  
straddling Scott. His left hand flashed around Scott's throat,  
pulling him half way up to him. The blade in his right hand  
extended. Just as he was about to stab Scott, the now assembled X-  
men attacked in force. A huge bolt of lightening slammed down on  
Alexander, only to be grounded harmlessly by his armor. The  
distraction was momentary, but it was enough to save Scott Summer's  
life. The mutant known as Nightcrawler teleported directly beside  
Alexander, the mid-teleport kick he had performed connected solidly with  
the side of Alexander's head. The blow knocked Alexander from his  
perch over Cyclops. Alexander growled in frustration, as another X-  
man escaped his wrath.

He leapt to his feet, launching himself at Nightcrawler in a  
futile attempt to hit him. The teleporting mutant merely  
disappeared, and reappeared right behind Alexander. Alexander was  
able to duck the kick that was quickly sent his way. He rolled from  
the duck, away from Nightcrawler, directly at Storm. Nightcrawler  
teleported to Storm, in an attempt to protect her from the blow she  
was about to receive. Instead, he was hit, knocking him end over  
end. He was up quickly however, and was about attack Alexander, when   
Jubilee shot off her rather annoying power. While the small   
explosives did little if any damage, the lights could blind.   
Alexander's visor protected him from the blast, but the X-men were  
all dazed by the light show. He leapt at the nearest X-man, wrapping  
his hand around her throat. This, however, turned out to be a  
mistake. He instantly felt his energy draining from him, he was  
however unable to force himself to let go. Rogue's eyes became big  
as saucers as Alexander's energy and memories flowed into her mind.

'Oh the poor boy', she thought, forcing herself away from him.  
Alexander gasped as his body came back under his control. He forced  
himself away from her, backpedaling. He had read descriptions of  
the little girl's power, but nothing was like the actual reality.  
His claws extended menacingly, as he stalked towards her again, his  
momentary weakness overcome. A huge metallic chest came between him  
and his prey. Colossus threw a powerful haymaker, which was avoided,  
and was pelted with a several fast, even more powerful kicks. An   
Adamantium blade pierced Colossus' metallic thigh like a hot knife  
through butter. The giant of a man fell to the ground, a scream  
echoing in the early morning.

"Get away from Piotr!" A girl screamed launching a well   
trained kick at Alexander's head. Alexander caught it, his hand   
squeezed the ankle. He smiled at the loud crack that sounded as the  
girl's ankle was shattered. The girl moaned in pain, falling to the  
ground. By some feat of adrenaline and constitution the girl stood  
back up on her still broken ankle.

Alexander smiled at the girl's determination. 'It makes them so   
much easier to kill', Alexander thought. He lunged at her, forearm  
blade aimed at her throat. Kitty Pryde screamed in fear as the blade  
rushed towards her. By instinct more than anything, the girl phased,  
turning incorporeal. As his blade pieced through her, Alexander was  
caught off guard by the lack of substance. He stumbled, passing  
almost entirely through the girl.

The effects of the girl's phasing ability had an instantaneous   
affect on Alexander's enhancements'. All most all of the   
electronic enhancements' that coursed through Alexander's body were  
disabled. The most important of these: all three behavior   
modification' were disabled.

"Sir," a nerdy looking man at a computer said, "We just lost  
visual on Alexander," he finished.

"What!" General Ross ranted.

"We have also lost the tracking device, Sir," a different  
technician said.

"What the hell just happened?" Ross screamed.

"I am not sure sir, let me replay the last transmissions from   
Alexander," The first technician said. General Ross watched as  
Alexander was about to finish the steel-skinned mutant, when he was  
distracted yet again from completing a portion of his mission. A  
pesky girl stood beside Alexander, who had her foot in his grasp.  
Though they had no audio, General Thaddeus E. Ross could hear the  
crack of the girl's ankle. He smirked in satisfaction, and then  
frowned in confusion. He didn't know who this girl was. He was more  
annoyed when the girl stood up. He became angry when Alexander leapt  
at her, only to pass through a millisecond before the recording  
stopped.

"Who the hell is that girl? Why wasn't I briefed on her? SOMEONE   
GET ME ANSWERS. I WANT A VISUAL ON THAT MANSION!" He screamed, his  
face now beet red with anger. 

Xander went from a stumble to a complete fall. He looked  
confused for a moment, looking around. Suddenly confusion was  
replaced with fear and guilt. He stumbled to his feet, looking at the  
largely injured X-men team. He did the only thing he could think of,  
he ran.

(Hours Later)  
Xander didn't know where he was, he had had just run for hours,  
full of guilt and anger. He looked around, trying to get his  
bearings. From the dingy street he was on, he guessed he had some  
how made it to the city, a bad part of the city. His armored form  
half stumbled down an alley where he collapsed from the mental  
burdens heaped upon him.

"Now I know how Deadboy felt," Xander said to himself, sorrow  
filling his soft voice. His body was instantly wracked with sobs as  
he recalled his friends. How could he go back now, after all he had  
done? 'Those poor people he had killed', he thought.

He was still crying, some time later when a group of thugs came  
upon him. They laughed and pointed at him, kicking the trash in the  
alley at him.

"Look at the poor mutie! Aww, don't cry little mutie, we can  
make it all better for you!" one of the thugs said. A butterfly  
knife suddenly flicked out in his hands, as the others rushed him.  
One of them kicked him as he lay there, his foot impacting with the  
impossibly hard skin. The thug leapt up and down, moaning in pain.

"I think he broke my foot!" he screamed. The leader of the gang  
rushed forward, striking at him with the knife, it bounced off his  
armor. He growled and was about to order his men to attack when he  
noticed he and the mutant' were the only ones left in the alley.  
Xander looked up at the tough, angry now, he stood up.

"That's not a knife, this" Xander said, his forearm blade  
extending, "is a knife." The thug gave a girly screamed and turn to  
run, right into the wall of the alley. His head smacked painfully  
into the wall and he fell down unconscious.

"Hey, are you alright?" A figure asked from his perch on the  
wall across from Xander, where he was tying the thug's three friends  
to the wall.

"I'm fine," Alexander said. The red and blue costumed figure  
dropped to the ground to look at Xander. In the meantime, Xander had   
retracted the blade, and Spiderman point at his arm.

"You should have that looked at," he said, causing Xander to  
look down. His arm was bleeding profusely from the wound in his arm  
that he acquired when he had extended his forearm blade, which had  
not closed.

"Oh shit," he said. He quickly wrapped the remnants of his camo   
around the wound.

"You know, there is a place for mutants, upstate, it's  
called Xavier's School for the Gifted', I think you would be  
welcome there," Spiderman said.

"I'm not a mutant," Xander snarled, his words containing more  
anger than he had planned.

"Okay, Whatever" Spiderman said, his voice colored with amused   
disbelief. Sirens could be heard soon in the distance. "Look, that's  
my queue to leave; I suggest you do the same, before the police  
find the mutant who attacked these poor upstanding citizens'."

"Yeah," Xander said absently. Spiderman shot a web and  
disappeared out of the alley. Xander walked oblivious out of the  
alley. Unnoticed under the bandage, Xander's arm began to heal. 

"Sir, the tracking device on Alexander has come back online,  
sir," The technician said.

"Where the hell is he?" Ross asked.

"New York, Sir," The technician replied.

"No shit, soldier." Ross said.

"New York City, sir, Queens to be exact," The technician said.

"Oh, well in that case, send someone to pick him up," Ross said.

"Yes sir."

Xander walked aimlessly before he made a decision. He had to go  
back, he had to face them, they would understand, he knew it. He had  
to go to Sunnydale. He jut didn't know how he was going to get  
there. With a shrug, he started walking in what he figured was the  
general direction of Sunnydale. After ten steps, his back  
straightened. His eyes lost any sign of emotion, and he looked at  
his surroundings.

"I must get to Sunnydale," Alexander said.

A/N: I know it's a little short, but I have to work at 7 tomorrow,  
so I'm gonna end her here tonight. As always, please tell me what  
you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"It is more important then ever that we find out what we can about this young man," Xavier said. He glanced around the room at his thoroughly beaten X-men. Scott Summers was nursing his arm, the angry red lines tracing his throat showed the signs of his near death experience, he glowered angrily. The other assembled X-men all favored their respective wounds, with the exception of Logan and Remy. Logan, who had taken the brunt of the punishment from the young man, had long since healed, though from the look on his face he had every intention of finding said young man and dishing out some payback for his pride. Remy however had apparently slept through the entire fight.

"Wha? It was six o'clock in the mornin', Dis Cajun can't do nothin 'til at least eight." Gambit had said when asked about it. Xavier looked at his assembled X-men once more; he could tell their morale was next to non-existent. Of all the villains they had faced, none had been able to pick them apart so easily. It was almost as if this boy was designed to fight them. That was a clue in and of itself. Not one of their members, not all mutants, just the X-men; something had to be done about this.

"First, we need to figure out if he works alone, which I doubt," Xavier said. "I do not think he is a mutant, and if he is, I do not know what his power is. The X factor gene only represents itself in one way; we have seen at least two abilities, the armor-like skin and the increased physical abilities."

"And them pretty knives," Logan put in, "I don't like 'em. They're hittin' too damn close to home."

"Indeed," Charles replied, deep in thought. "Another thing, I was unable to read him at all. It was as if he was as if he was not there, I have only come across that particular feeling once, and I think I know who I should talk to about it."

"Why did he run?" Kitty asked, quietly. "He looked so scared, so alone. But it was like he was completely different person after I phased through him," She finished.

"Yes, I wonder about that. Perhaps he is under some kind of mind control? And when you phased through him it was disabled. This is something we can use."

"Rogue, what do you remember from when you tapped him?" Cyclops asked.

"He isn't a mutant, he has no power." Rogue said quietly, she was curled up in a ball, sitting in the corner of the room. "So afraid and alone. He felt so powerless. I don't think he could control himself."

"I know its hard Rogue, but can you remember anything that will help us find him, so we can help him?"

"He was really messed up, Prof. I got weird flashes, He really believes in demons and vampires. He believes he has been fighting them with a couple of his friends. I'm trying to remember names. Buffy. Buffy was important to him, he believed that it was his purpose in life to protect her, others too, but it was most strongly tied with this Buffy. He believes she will hate him for what he has done."

"Interesting," Charles said slowly.

"We need more then that, Kid. Give us a location, a city, a state." Logan said, gruffly.

"California," Rogue said after a moment, her face straining to recall details. "Le Boca Del Inferno, that's all I have"

"The Hellmouth?" Nightcrawler gasped.

"Sunnydale," Charles said with conviction.

"Sunnydale?" Kitty asked.

"Sunnydale is the Hellmouth. Listen X-men, and believe," Charles started, "The world is older then popularly believed..."

"Wait a sec, Chuck, You're tellin' me you know where the Hellmouth is, and you never told us?" Wolverine cut in.

"You believe in vampires and demons, Logan?" Xavier asked.

"I've been around a long time Chuck, even if I can't remember it all. You run into things, you know? Things you can't forget," Logan said softly.

"I know who Buffy is," Scott said after a moment of silence, though his eyes were covered by the visor, the other X-men could see the tension in his face. "I have a cousin, in Sunnydale California, Elizabeth."

"What does that have to do with this Buffy?" Rogue asked quietly.

"Elizabeth was a ditz in high school and went by Buffy."

"I don't think were talkin bout the same Buffy here, one eye." Logan said.

"Why not?" Scott asked.

"Kids a Vampire hunter living on the Hellmouth, Don't think he'd be the kind to moon over some half-wit cheerleader." Logan said.

"She burned her High school down in tenth grade," Scott said after a moment.

"We're talkin 'bout the same chick," Logan agreed a moment later.

"Alright, Scott I think you should pay a visit to your cousin, I want you to take Remy and Rogue with you," Charles said.

"But Char-" Scott began.

"No Scott, there are two options here, either he's out there, alone and sacred, or he's out there, planning another assault on the mansion,  
either way, we need to find out as much about him as possible."

"Sir," A technetium said softly.

"What is it?" General Ross said angrily.

"We figured out what happened to Alexander," The Tech said.

"And?" Ross said.

"We believe that some kind of EMP disabled 85 of the nanites and all three chips we installed in Alexander. The basic program of the  
nanites is to keep him alive and then repair any enhancements that have been disabled. Not only have all the nanites been fixed, but 85 of them now have a shielding that should render any EMP interference harmless, the chips have also been upgraded to this capacity." The tech said. "I can't believe you didn't anticipate this problem before, soldier." Ross said.

"My apologies, General." The tech said.

"I want another assault on the mansion planned. This time, I want full support send three teams." Ross said quietly.

"Yes Sir," The tech said quietly.

"Two Days," Ross said.

The next day

Scott walked away from the "Landing Site". He glared at Remy.

"Any landing you walk away from, is a good landing, non, Mon amie?" Remy said, his devil may cry grin causing Scott to grimace.

"No, Gambit, A good landing is one where you don't hit anything on the way down," Scott said.

"Where's de fun in dat?" Gambit asked, grin still on his lips. Scott shook his head and grunted in frustration.

"Calm down, Shuga, It's not that bad, nothings broken, just some scratches," Rogue said.

"Thanks, Cheri, I knew you'd understand." Gambit said.

"Shut up, Remy" Scott said. He pulled out his cell phone and looked around. Mouth of Hell? This place was right out of an episode of

Leave it to Beaver. He searched through the phonebook on his cell and when he found the one he was looking for the pressed the "Send"  
button."Hi Aunt Joyce, It's Scott, we just got in to town, yes, it was a nice flight." He glared at Remy. Remy through his hands up and gave Scott an innocent look.

"We'll be there in half an hour." Scott said. After a polite conversation, Scott hung up the phone, and glared at Remy, again.

"I'll get de car," Gambit said.

"I don't think so," Scott said.

The smallish man looked up at the two giant men beating on the poor woman in front of him. Despite knowing better, he decided to get involved. He walked into the alley they were in.

"Hey, you two leave that woman alone!" The man said, walking towards the two brutes.

"Shut up, pipsqueak, or you'll be next. Now, give me da money, or I'll kill ya, you stupid bitch" The man growled at the woman. He reared  
his hand back to hit her."I said... leave... her... alone" the man grunted out.

"What if we don't?" The one who spoke earlier asked.

"You'll make me angry... You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." The man grunted.

"Get the hell outta here, you freak," The one who hadn't spoken yet said. He turned and laid into the man with his fist, knocking him onto his back. He fell onto his back with a moan, covered in the filth of the alley.

"Now you've done it, I'm pissed off." Bruce Banner said, his face began to turn green. Moments later the two thugs came shooting out of the alley, slamming into a wall across the main street.

"Sir?" The tech said, wondering why he was the one who always had to give the General bad news.

"What is it now?" Ross asked.

"Well sir, the plan for tomorrows assault is coming along nicely." He said slowly.

"Get to the point, man." Ross said.

"Your 'Friend' has been spotted." The tech said.

"WHAT? Where?" Ross screamed.

"Atlanta," the tech said.

"I want Alexander there, yesterday."

"Are you sure sir? Do you think he is up to Hulk standards?" The tech said.

"DO IT" Ross screamed.

Scott knocked on the door, standing on the porch, his dark glasses reflecting in the midday sun. Scott could hear muted yelling, followed  
by a final screech, when a flustered little girl pulled the door open. With a scream a teenaged figure leapt through the now open doorway and latched itself onto Scott."Scottie," came the piercing screech. Through this onsalaught, Cyclops was barely able to keep on his feet.

"Good to see you too, Dawnie," Scott said. Rogue and Remy shared a look.

"Hey Scottie" a figure said from the doorway. Scott looked up to see Buffy standing in the doorway; her face was dark, eyes slightly  
puffed."Hey Buffy, and its Scott now," Scott said, in his own upright way.

"Cool," Buffy said, her voice was lacking something it had contained the last time he spoke with her. Dawn finally detached herself from Scott. Scott motioned to Gambit and Rogue

"These are my friends, Remy and Marie, Guys, this is Buffy and Dawn," Scott said.

"Hello," Rogue said, shyly.

"'Ello," Gambit said, scooping Dawns hand and planting a kiss on the back of it. Dawn blushed furiously.

"Hi" She said after a moment, cursing herself. Scott and Buffy glared at Gambit. Not at all taken aback, Remy did the same for Buffy, although perhaps his voice was a little deeper the second time around. Buffy found herself blushing.

Alexander waited patiently in the Blackhawk as they flew towards Atlanta. It was a long flight from Northern Texas, but that turned out to  
be a moot point. A green blur in front of the chopper forced the pilot to turn presenting the side of the chopper to the Hulk, who was three states west of where he should have been. The door beside Alexander opened, and almost shrugging, Alexander leapt out the door, armor activating and blades springing forth mid-leap. This is the stupidest thing I have ever done, a voice deep down said. The black blur collided with the green Hulk in a fury of quick, stabbing motions. Dozens of small cuts appeared all over the Hulk, as he swiped painfully at the annoying bug that seemed to fly around him. "CRUSH!" the hulk screamed, annoyed now, as he attempted to smash the tiny black figure scoring little bloody lines all over his mammoth body. They healed almost as fast as they were inflicted, little more then an annoyance to the great brute. An annoyance they were, however. This only served to make the brute angrier. They were shooting towards the ground now, Alexander latched tightly to the Hulk's back as it grew larger and larger. The blade on his right hand stabbing the hulk dozens of times where the kidneys should be. The hulk slapped at its back and its side, Alexander always just an inch from getting caught. They hit the ground with a thud. The impact jarred Alexander from his perch.

Upon hitting the ground, Alexander moaned. He managed to roll just out of the way of the speeding green foot. He rolled to his feet, dancing past the smashing hand that came down beside him. The force of the blow knocked him into the air. A hand latched around his midsection as he was coming down. The hand squeezed. Hard. Despite the armor's ability to stop bullets and sharp objects, it did retain its flexibility. The squeezing was so intense; Alexander believed his ribs may have been bending under the force. He gasped in pain, both of his arms stretched out, wrists turning inward. He speared the massive wrists with both blades at the same time.  
The hulk roared, half in pain, and half in outrage. He swung the pesky man around like a rodent that had latched on to his finger. He swung his mighty arm left and right, trying to dislodge the now stuck Alexander. Alexander was repeatedly slammed against the ground, and then shook through the air. Finally, the blades fell free on a particularly nasty slam. The Hulk gave Alexander one last frightened look; like an elephant might give a mouse, before leaping off. Alexander stood groggily looking around for the Hulk. Had he been the type, he might have actually sighed in frustration. He tapped the button on his visor that signaled his recall.  
A short time later, in a newly made clearing oh the Oklahoma/Texas border, a tired and confused Bruce Banner woke up.

Scott looked down at a framed picture, his thoughts completely inward. He had been wandering the small living room when he came across it. It depicted Buffy and a young red-haired girl. What caught his attention though was the young dark haired man sandwiched between the two girls, a carefree grin on his face.

"Hey," He heard Buffy say, startling him.

"Hi," He returned.

"What's up?" Buffy asked.

"Who is this?" Scott asked, pointing at the picture.

"That's Willow, you will probably meet her tonight," Buffy said.

"I meant the boy," Scott said.

"Oh," Buffy's face darkened. "That's Xander."

"Where is he, will I be meeting him too?" Scott asked.

"He died," Buffy said softly.

"Oh," Scott said.

"Buffy, come look at the TV!" Dawn screamed. Buffy walked over to the TV in the living room. A news program was running.

"A man, who was filming his children playing in a park in Louisiana, caught this footage, this is graphic, for any parents please make your children leave the room at this time." The scene cut to a day in the park, two children playing on swings, a swift moment of the camera brought a large black helicopter into focus. The camera zoomed out just enough to show the quickly approaching large, green blur. From the chopper leapt a figure that, mid-leap, turned black. The much smaller black figure seemed to dart around the larger figure, which appeared to be slapping at it as one would swat at a fly. The black figure latched onto the back of the green mammoth as they plummeted from the air.

"We have confirmed that the large green figure was indeed the Hulk, though we have no speculations as to who the black clad figure was,  
but we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Without his bravery and courage, many may have lost their lives today, after the encounter, the Hulk was not seen again." the news anchor said. Buffy heard a gasp of surprise, followed by a grunt of disbelief. Buffy whirled on Scott.

"What's going on Scott?" Buffy accused.

"What do you mean," Scott asked.

"Don't play with me, why did you ask about Xander?" Buffy said.

"Buffy-" Scott started.

"Tell me!" Buffy said.

"That was him!" Scott said.

"The Hulk? Are you insane?" Buffy asked.

"Not the Hulk, the other guy," Scott said.

"Now I know you're out of your mind," Buffy said.

"Buffy, please, come talk with me, alone." Scott said.

"Alright, you wanted to talk, lets hear it," Buffy said, sitting on her bed.

"I know about Vampires, Buffy. I know that you fight them. I know that Xander did too," Scott said quickly.

"Huh?" Buffy said.

"Xander isn't dead Buffy, Hell, he tried to kill me two days ago," Scott said.

"Now I know you're lying, Xander couldn't hurt anyone." Buffy said.

"Someone did something to him, Buffy. Some one made him evil, made him into a killer." Scott said.

"But... Xander?" Buffy said softly.

"I'm sorry" Scott said after a moment.

"Why you, Scott? What makes a school teacher important enough to have a killing machine sent after him?" Buffy asked.

"That's a secret," Scott said.

"You know my secret, Scott," Buffy said.

"I'm a mutant," Scott said after a moment of internal struggle.

"Really? That is so cool. What can you do?" Buffy asked, forgetting herself for a moment.

"I shoot laser-" Scott began.

"Wait, who did this?" Buffy asked, anger filling her voice.

"I don't know, we came here hoping to learn more about him." Scott said softly.

Charles Xavier watched the news program with a sigh. It appeared that it was option two. He moved his chair down the long hallway and  
entered Cerebro.

Twenty minutes (and dozens of mutants known to have ties with Magneto) later.The mutant known only as Toad turned towards Magneto, his face blank.

"Eric," The toad said. The mutant mastermind took a moment to sort out was going on before he replied.

"Ahh Charles, how nice of you to call," Eric Magnus said.

"Eric, I need you're help," Toad said, his voice devoid of inflection.

"You need my help, Charles? That is rich," Magneto said.

"There is a new threat, aimed at my X-men," Charles said.

"Oh good, I should like to meet them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that," Eric said.

"I think, in this case, it is the enemy of your enemy is your enemy. He was designed to kill mutants," Xavier said. Eric Magnus' eyes darkened at this.

"I see, and what would you like me to do about it?" Eric said.

"I think his particular... attributes are right up you're alley. Come to the mansion, please." Charles said in Toad's voice.

"I will be there tomorrow, Charles." Eric said.

"Buffy, The day before yesterday he came to the school I work at and tried to kill me and some of the other staff who are mutants. Then, almost as fast as he came, he ran off. We are glad that none of us were killed. One of our people got a head full of his memories and your name came up." Scott said. Buffy just looked at him, tears rimming her eyes.

"We thought he was dead, he was dead. We found him, after they got him. He died in my arms, I saw it" Buffy said.

"Some how he was resurrected. Now he is attacking mutants, and apparently The Hulk." Scott said.

"But... why?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know Buffy, I don't know." Scott said, more resolved then ever to get to the bottom of the enigma.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Alexander watched the mansion from his perch across the courtyard. He frowned internally, as he saw that some of the targets were not present. He decided that this time, he would wait, and use a more strategic approach. He was unsure if the mutant called Wolverine was killable, he had wasted too much time the last time fighting him. He waited for one of the easier targets to approach. He watched quietly as the young girl who had disabled him the last time left the mansion's haven to water some flowers in the garden.

Alexander quietly moved from his hiding spot, creeping up behind the young woman. as he neared her, he reached out, grabbing for her. His hands closed around her shoulders and he pulled her back, before shoving her foward. The momentum of the push shot her near the cement flower pot she had been tending. Just as she approached she passed through, tumbling to the other side. Alexander leapt over the pot, blades extending mid-leap and sliced through her mid-section. The blade passed through her with frustrating ease. She screamed for help, turning to run away. Alexander kept up with her, cursing himself, as they got closer to the mansion. The wind around him suddenly picked up, thunder echoed through the sky. Alexander turned from his prey to face the mutant Storm. He was certain that the witch's powers held no effect on him, until the relatively small tornado picked him up and launched him into the side of the mansion.

Alexander hit the wall with a slight grunt, before sliding down and slumping to the ground. He groaned, and activated his armor. While it didn't make him much heavier, the metallic skin was heavier then his flesh. He stood, hopping that the added wait would keep him on the ground, before running full speed directly at his foe. Storm's eyes widened at his speed, and she tried desperately to avoid the attack that was eminent. Losing her concentration, the storm around them died. Alexander launched his fist foward, connecting solidly with her stomach. She grunted in pain as her body doubled around his fist. He pulled his arm away, and Storm fell breathlessly to her knees. Alexander looked down at her, a sick grin crossing his lips. A shkkt sounded as his forearm blade extended. He raised his hand, about to deliver a killing blow.

A small voice inside Alexander raged against the action he was about to take. Though the distraction was short, it proved enough to save Storm's life. A moment after the blade would have fallen, A yellow and blue blur impacted with Alexander, sending him, and the blur, tumbling back in a flurry of powerful blows. In his classic Berserker rage, Logan tore into Alexander. He punched, kicked, clawed and bit anything that came in range. Alexander, for his part, merely hit back at his leisure, his armor absorbing most of the blows. A lucky hit landed on Alexanders temple, scoring a line down the metallic surface of Alexander's face. While it did no damage to Alexander himself, the visor he wore was shredded. Leaping back, he took Wolverine in once more, his now naked eyes glaring at the regenerating mutant. Wolverine had not come out of the battle unscathed, several deep puncture wounds, mostly healed, were shown through the tatters of his costume.

Just as they were about to begin their battle once more, Alexander stiffened. Confusion crossed his features as he tried to move but found himself unable to. A moment later, his body began to rise off the ground. A slow, steady clapping echoed through the mid-day sky.

"Oh, Bravo," A voice came. "Anyone who can make our dear Logan this angry, can't be all bad, right?" Magneto stepped into Alexander's line of sight.

"Eric," Logan growled.

"Oh do calm down, Wolverine. Charles phoned, he asked me if I would be willing to help. I agreed. Now... what to do with this marvel of modern technology." Eric said, a dangerous hint to his voice. Alexander groaned as he felt his limbs stretching. "All that metal, to fight mutants? I must say, I am vastly hurt. Did you're government forget about me boy? I suppose I must send them a message to make them remember."

"Eric, stop." Charles Xavier said, as he wheeled out onto the porch of the mansion.

"Why? After all this, you still don't believe that I am right? Charles, they will never leave us alone." Magneto said.

"That is beside the point. That boy is here against his will, Eric. Will we force those who have no say to pay for the crimes of those that do?" Charles asked. "Extend you're senses, there is something inside that boy that has removed his freewill."

"I don't care Charles, they need to be taught a lesson." Eric said.

"That boy has spent years fighting the darkness, the darkness we both know doesn't care if one is mutant or human." Charles said. Eric looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Fine, Charles. You win. I will help the boy." Eric Magnus said, concentrating for moment. "This is going to hurt, child. It is going to hurt very much."

A moment later a small metallic object burst from the back of Alexander's skull. A grunt of pain followed it's exit. Another moment later and another object join the first. Then with a scream of agony, a third object floated beside the other two. Xander slumped into unconsciousness while the nanites healed his battered brain and skull. Magneto, showing some humanity, ease Xander to the ground gently. The objects dissolved and the minute ashes floated to the ground.

"Now Charles, are you going to offer an old friend a cup of Tea?" Eric asked, walking towards the mansion. Wolverine picked Xander up and carried him into the mansion.

Control Room, Texas.

"Sir, we have a problem." The technician said.

"What is it now," Ross asked.

"Alexander was confronted by Eric Magnus, Sir" The tech said.

"And?" Ross asked.

"We believe Magnus has removed the chips from Alexander." The tech said.

"Wonderful," Ross said.

Xander woke up slowly. The first thing he noticed was his head was throbbing. He sat up, blinking a few times, as he took in his surroundings. For a moment, he had no idea where he was, a blissful moment. The next moment, the memories assaulted him. The memories of the night his life ended, what that woman and the other men did to him. The months he spent with General Ross, preparing for his attack on the X-men. The men he killed. It was all too much, and before he could stop them, tears began to pour from his eyes.

Xavier watched Xander break down from his position in the control room. The camera in the infirmary picked up the tell-tale sobs better then the actual tears. He was at a loss, he could not read Xander's mind, he couldn't tell what he was thinking. That made his job so much more difficult, not impossible, but much more difficult. Someone had to coach this young man through the horrors he had been forced to commit.

Xander's first thought, after he finished crying, was to bolt. He got off the hospital bed he was on, finding he had no clothes on, he searched around. In a conveniently placed closet nearby he found a set of sweat pants and a tee-shirt. Throwing them on he attempted to sneak down the hallway. He ducked around a corner just as some children came down the hall. He made it to the door, and just as he opened it, he heard a voice.

"Where ya gonna go, kid?" Logan said. Xander whirled, automatically adopting a defensive stance. Logan leaned into the corner of the walls opposite Xander. A lit cigar hung from his mouth, his burly arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't know," Xander admitted, relaxing only slightly.

"You should stay, Chuck can help you," Logan said.

"You don't know what I have done," Xander said.

"It can't be worse then what I have done kid, at least you can say you had no control over your actions." Logan countered.

"I need to figure things out," Xander said. Logan nodded, knowing how that was.

"If you ever need a place..." Logan started, to which Xander nodded, before heading out the door.

"I can't believe you just let him leave, Logan" Kitty Pryde said to the stocky man.

"You can't make someone stay, Kit, Or he won't get better. He has to come 'er cause he wants to." Wolverine said.

"Logan is right, if Alexander chooses to work his problems out alone, we will let him. However, if he becomes a threat, we will do what is necessary." Charles Xavier said.

"I hope that he stays on the path of the light," a quiet, still bruised Storm intoned.

"Me too, 'Ro. Me too." Logan agreed.

For the second time in less then a week, Xander found himself wandering the streets of New York. He was in a better state then on his previous visit, if only slightly. He took in the giant buildings, taller then the eye could see. He ignored the pollution-filled air and saw instead the beauty of the people, working together, living together. What would my life be like, he mused to himself, if I never met Buffy? If I never found out about the darkness that eats away in the night? Would I still find this place full of people as beautiful as I do now? He knew that some people did evil things, people killed each other, stole, and were generally mean. But the people who were killing others did so because they did not want to be killed. And those that stole, for the most part, stole to eat or have clothes to wear. And those who were mean, were usually mean because someone had been mean to them. A naive point of view, he conceded to himself, but when you have seen the things I have, you come to believe that there is hope for human beings.

But sometimes, in order for that hope to continue, those who kill, whose who steal, and those who treat others like shit, have to be stopped. Xander thought for a long time, I now have the power to fight the darkness, but everywhere I look, darkness is all I see. Human darkness, supernatural darkness, mutated darkness: Where does one begin? Can I hope to fight all three and survive more then a week? How do others do this? How can they handle it? It was so much easier, before. When, while what I did mattered in small ways, but had little affect on the big picture.

Xander's musings were stopped when, in broad daylight, two men mugged a woman. Dozens of witnesses turned away, acting as though nothing happened. Xander himself, was stunned into inaction. A single, small teenage stood between the men and their ultimate getaway.

"Give the lady back her purse," She said, fear evident in her voice. They barely took notice of her, as they walked by. One reached over and shoved the girl, hard, into the building beside them. They kept walking, right towards Xander. Determination settled on Xander's face.

"The young lady asked you nicely," Xander started, his eyes glinting dangerously. "I won't be so nice."

The normal hussle and bussle of New York lunch-hour continued around them, as if nothing had happened. The two thugs looked at Xander, and gave a smirk, continueing to push past him. Xander's hand closed around the wrist of the man holding the purse, tightly. The man swung his free fist at Xander's face, which he easily ducked. The other mugger roared and threw a punch at Xander, which was again evaded. The blow swept past Xander, connecting solidly into the face of the first man. In his shock the man let go of the purse, and stumbled back, holding his nose. Xander merely turned away, and walked back towards the girl who had been shoved. He helped her up slowly.

"Look out," She exclaimed, as the second thug attempted to sneak up on him. Xander didn't turn around. He held his right hand up, and the blade extended from the top of his wrist. The thug blinked, screamed like a child, and ran off.

"Mutie!" Someone on the street yelled. The words were chorused through the crowd. Great, now they notice something, Xander thought. Without a word, Xander handed the purse to the girl and walked, quickly, from the scene.

Xander found a place, away from the mob of anti-mutant New Yorkers, and sat down. He heard a noise beside him, that was slightly familiar.

"They aren't so bad once they get to know you," Spiderman said, hanging from a line upside-down, beside Xander.

"I bet," Xander said.

"I saw what you did back there, and as a citizen of New York, I would like to thank you," He said.

"No problem," Xander said, sarcasm thick in his voice.

"Look man, no one is perfect, especially not a lot of people. They are afraid of what they don't understand. They are afraid that because you can use those things to hurt people, you will. When I first came here, they hated me. They cursed my name, no thanks to the Daily Bugle." Spidey said, a lot of distaste in his voice."Now I am not going to say they all love me, but a lot of them know I am only trying to help them, and they appreciate me."

"I fail to see what any of this has to do with me," Xander interrupted.

"Well, someone once said to me 'With great power, comes great responsibility'." Spiderman said.

"I think he forgot a part, bro." Xander told him.

"Huh," Spiderman asked.

"He forgot to tell you, 'The more power you have, the bigger your problems become.'" Xander said. Spiderman didn't know what to say to that.

"So..." Spiderman said after a moment of silence.

"So..." Xander agreed.

"What did you do before you got you're power?" Spiderman asked after a moment.

"Hunted vampires," Xander said, not expecting to be believed.

"Met a guy a while back, he was into all that. Not really my thing, I do it when I come across them though." Spiderman said.

"Yea?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, his name was Blade," Spidey replied.

"Never met him," Xander said.

"Oh," Spiderman said, "So mutant huh? How is that working out for you?"

"Not a mutant," Xander replied, an edge in his voice.

"Sorry," Spiderman said, "So... how did you get you're powers?"

"Government experiment, you?" Xander said.

"Radioactive Spider." Spidey said.

"Ahh, hate that," Xander said.

"Yeah..." Spidey replied. A woman screamed in the distance, Spiderman looked in that direction. "Duty calls," he said, and then he was gone.

Xander sat for some time, thinking about what Spiderman had said.

Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, watched in awe as his cousin tore into a vampire, then in shock as it disappeared into dust. Shortly after their discussion of Xander, Scott had asked Buffy if he could patrol with her, to see what vampire hunting was like. Buffy agreed after a while, reluctantly. Of course, Rogue and Gambit had come as well, and Gambit was mumbling about 'never pissing her off' under his breath.

"And that, my friends was a vampire." Buffy said, dusting herself off. The three mutants just stared, open mouthed.

"Wow," Scott said after a moment.

"Wow," Gambit agreed.

"Wow," Rogue summarized.

"That about covered it," Buffy concluded.

Xander wasn't sure how much later it was, the sun had long since disappeared over the horizon, when he found himself standing in front of the mansion. He walked slowly, deliberately towards the door, before reaching up to knock.

"I knew ya'd come back," Logans voice assailed him before he had the chance to knock.

"What can I say man, you're a genius." Xander said sarcastically.

"Flattery will get ya everywhere, kid," Logan said, his cigar bobbing as he spoke.

"I only plan on staying one night," Xander said, looking at Logan. "If that is alright, I mean."

"Chuck said you're welcome whenever you want, kid. But, I wanna know, what ya gonna do after tonight?" Logan asked.

"I'm going on a road trip, to pay a visit to some old friends," Xander said, anger swelling in his voice.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Xander woke up slowly, enjoying the large, comfortable bed he waslaying in. After a few moments of enjoying the bed, he sat up, eyes glancing around. Xander found his clothing, the black ops camo,lying on the dresser by the door. He sat up, yawning and stretching.  
He hadn't slept that well, but considering the last year, he wasn'tall that surprised.

He dressed quickly, and left the room. He walked down the hall tothe front door; Kitty looked up at Xander, noticing her placement between Xander and the door. She smiled weakly at him, stillslightly uneasy around him. 'It may have had something to do with trying to kill me,' Kitty mused in her head.

"Good morning, did you want to have breakfast with the guys?" she asked. Xander was about to say no, when his stomach growled at him  
in a threatening manner. Xander looked up at Kitty with a sheepish grin crossing his face. "I'll take that as a yes then," she said,  
Xander shrugged, a lop-sided grin on his face.

Xander sat at the large table, watching the surreal scene taking place around him. The assorted mutants, ranged around the dinner, conversed and ate pancakes like some of their numbers hadn't almost been killed yesterday. Even odder, to Xander, was the fact that they   
included him in the conversation, seemingly forgetting that only the day before he had attempted to kill them.

Kitty glanced over and smiled in his direction. Xander returned the smile, however weakly. He ate the pancakes in front of him. Xander was startled when he heard the distinctive shhknt of Wolverines claws extending. His head whipped in Logan's direction, and he saw a   
single claw pierce an orange that was on a platter in the middle of the table. A dark hand reached out and slapped the extended hand.

"Logan," Orroro Monroe said, warning in her voice.

"Sorry, Ro," Logan said. Xander's eyebrow rose, as the others at the table shared a laugh. 'I wonder if this is how Faith felt, the  
first time she came to Sunnydale,' Xander thought suddenly, surprising himself.

"So, Alexander, what are you doing later, man?" Bobby "Iceman" Drake asked.

"It's Xander," Xander corrected, disliking his full name now more then ever, "and I am leaving, I have some things I have to do."

"Sorry," Bobby said, "Cause me and Kitty were gonna go to the park later, Marie was posed to come with us, but she's outta town," he   
finished.

"I noticed she wasn't around, Cyclops or Gambit either. Where are they?" Xander said. While he had never met Gambit, he had seen the picture and read the file that Ross had on him.

"They, uh, went on a trip," Bobby said lamely.

"They went to Sunnydale, Xander." Professor Xavier said as he rolled into the dinning room.

"What," Xander asked, alarmed.

"Scott went to visit his cousin, Buffy," Charles said, as gently as possible.

"Oh… god…" Xander choked, he pushed himself away from the table, and the chair fell behind him. "She knows, doesn't she?" Even though Charles could not read his mind, everyone in the room knew what Xander meant by that. Xavier could only nod, his eyes filled with empathy.

"Calm down kid, Scott will temper it for you," Logan said.

"You don't understand, Logan, you don't know Buffy. There is no going back now, she's not the kind to forgive and forget, well, unless you're a vampire who happens to bang her." Xander said, anger filling his voice.

"I do not usually offer this to people who are not mutants, Xander, but you will always have a place here, among my X-men." Xavier told   
Xander with a smile.

"Thank you, Professor," Xander said, the respect and gratitude in his voice surprising him.

"You are welcome, Xander," Xavier said.

"I have to get to Texas," Xander said. Charles nodded, having anticipated this turn in the conversation.

"I'll take em Prof." Logan said.

"I'd rather go alone," Xander interrupted.

"Will you allow us to buy you a ticket?" Charles asked. Xander nodded reluctantly, he had little choice.

Ross walked out of the conference room, rubbing his temples. The chiefs were not happy with what he had to tell them, especially  
since they had not heard back from the black ops teams they had sent with Alexander. He left the building and strode across the street to  
the Hulk-Buster' HQ. He was halfway to the door when the remains of a Blackhawk chopper dropped to the ground in front of him. His eyes shot up just in time to catch the body that was falling quickly towards him. Only battle hardened reflexes allowed him to avoid  
being crushed.

He looked down at the lifeless body lying at his feet. On the back of the body, a piece of paper flapped idly in the breeze. Written on   
the paper in black magic marker was a short message.

"Leave Alexander alone." It was signed "A friend". Ross felt anger rising from his gut, his face turned beet red. Then he rationalized, "At least we know what happened to the teams."

Ross stormed into the base. His eyes glowed with anger; he glared at the two majors sitting at his desk, awaiting a debriefing.

"I want contingency plan Alpha 4-Omega activated, and I want it done thirty minutes ago, those fucking freaks have gone too far this  
time!" Ross ranted. The two majors only gulped.

Three hours later, New York.

Xander exited the sporty blue car that Logan had assured him belonged to Cyclops, just after the Backstreet Boy song came on the  
CD player. Xander had merely raised an eyebrow in his direction. The next flight for Texas didn't leave until eight, which was four hours   
away.

"I can't believe you listen to The Backstreet Boys," Xander smirked.

"Listen, boy," Logan stressed the word, "I don't listen to that crap, and if you don't shut up about it, I'm gonna have to kick your  
ass."

"Whoa, calm down man. Besides, you don't want none of this, I already handed you your ass once, grandpa" Xander grinned. Logan's   
cigar actually dropped from his lips in shock.

"Wait one second, pup. You ever handed me anything, maybe that guy you used to be was tough, but you ain't shit." Logan said.

"You wantin' to test that, Wolfy?" Xander smirked.

"Wolfy? What the hell was that? Wolfy. Man, Bobby has better insults then you do." Logan said.

"Oh hell no, you didn't" Xander said, a mock growl erupting from his lips. Wolverine merely smirked and copied the motion Alexander had  
given him the first time they fought.

An instant later the two warriors clashed. As before, the fury of their battle was like something few had ever seen. With a flurry of  
blows, Xander struck three times for every one of Logan's. However, Logan's blows were always well placed; hitting spots where Xander's Adamantium laced bones would not protect him.

Xander was the first to draw actual blood when, mid-jab, his right forearm blade extended, drawing a shallow line across the bridge of  
Logan's nose. Less than a second later, all six of Logan's claws extended. Now the fight was visible from a larger distance as eight  
sharp, metal objects glittered in the sun. From an outsider's perspective, the battle seemed fairly even. But, to Logan and  
Xander, it was almost one sided. Without the ruthless determination that Alexander had, Xander was hardly able to keep up with Logan's  
skill, precision, and experience.

They broke apart when Wolverine hit Xander with a solid punch, connecting with Xander's jaw, swinging him around. Logan flowed  
smoothly through the punch and connected with a spinning kick to the back of Xander's now turned head. The force knocked Xander from his feet and cause him to slide across the ground, face first, leaving a furrow in the ground.

Xander stood slowly, spitting bits of grass and dirt from his teeth.He wiped the remaining dirt and a trickle of blood from his lips  
with the back of his hand. His eyes narrowed slightly; with a single thought black armor enveloped his body. The metallic skin shinned  
duly in the sun, and a grin crept across Xander's lips. Just as he was about to attack Wolverine once more, a giant energy blast hit  
the ground in front of his feet, launching him into the air. He landed with a grunt and rolled onto his back.

In the sky above the mansion hovered at least two dozen Sentinels. Wolverine looked up, and allowed himself to gulp. Most of the other  
members of the X-Men who were in the mansion came out to face the threat. Narrowing his eyes, Xander called upon his Halloween  
memories from some tactics, a plan formed.

"Alright, this ain't pretty. Kitty and Nightcrawler, I want you two to team up. Kurt, I want you to teleport Kitty over those fuckers'   
heads and drop her. Kitty, you do your thing, as soon as you are clear of them, Phase back and Kurt will catch you, Got it? Bobby….  
Slow em down as best you can" Xander said, Bobby smirked at Xander.

"Slow em down?" Bobby asked, his hand shot forward, ice shards began to form around the area his hand had moved, carrying on in the  
same direct as if he had thrown them. The assorted shards, some inches long, some feet long, peppered into the nearest Sentinel's head, causing it to drop from the sky.

"Or you could do that," Xander said. He looked at Logan, a smile spreading across his lips. "I guess we get to do the hard work, eh?"

"You got that right, Kid," Logan said, surprised by the boys apparent leadership abilities. He leapt at the nearest Sentinel who was firing an energy beam at Storm. The weather witch herself was blasting Sentinel after Sentinel with lighting.

Sometime later, Xander found himself climbing, hand over hand, up the leg of a Sentinel. His blade sheared into the left arm, causing sparks to fly up into his face. Disoriented for a moment, he was almost dislodged when the arm was torn off by the now unstable Sentinel. He scrambled up, using his forearm blades to hold himself on the Sentinel; he crawled onto its head.

He rained blows down on the steel skull of his opponent. Between his strength and the Adamantium protection of his skin, the steel gave away, a single bladed hand shot down, into the CPU of his opponent.The Sentinel flopped to the ground, Xander rode it down, leaping off just before impact, he rolled to his feet, taking in the battle before him.

Kitty phased, the energy beam shot at her passed through her harmlessly, connecting with the chest of the Sentinel behind her. As  
it fell, its head rolled off, just missing Nightcrawler who teleported to Kitty's just now solidifying body. He caught her out of the air and teleported her to the ground.

Breathing hard and exhausted, Bobby Drake watched his last opponent fall to the ground, a human sized ice shard piercing its chest. He glanced around to see how the others had faired, thus far. It appeared as though the fight was coming to a close. Wolverine's clothes were in tatters, though how much of that was from the Sentinels and how much was from Xander, he was unsure. Storm had a nasty gash over her left eye, and Nightcrawler was clutching his tail, his forehead creased with pain.

"Whoa, someone put a bug in their bonnet," Bobby said, looking at the scrap metal littering the mansions courtyard. "You think we can call Magneto so he can do a dust buster?" Bobby asked.

"Can it, Drake," Logan said, noticing the look on Xander's face.

"This is my fault. They sent these things after me. One of you could be hurt. I have to leave, now." Xander said.

"Whoa, calm down kid. These damn tin cans have been coming after us for years, we all got problems. But we stick together, its kind of a   
thing, you know?" Logan said.

"Yea I'll bet you and Scott are real close, but I gotta go. Bye bye bye" Xander said, his patented grin coming to his lips.

"Screw you kid," Logan managed, after his jaw worked for thirty seconds with nothing coming out.

"I just got off the phone with the Professor," Scott said to Remy and Rogue. "It seems that Magneto was able to remove the microchips in Xander's brain that were controlling him. He seems pretty sure that Xander intends to find the people who did it to him. Oh, and half a dozen Sentinels attacked the mansion." Scott said.

"What? Is everyone okay?" Rogue said alarmed.

"Everyone is fine; apparently Xander was pretty handy, with some tactical leadership abilities to boot." Scott said, "This came directly from Logan."

"Wow," Rogue said.

"You'd best watch out, Scottie, or you gonna lose you're job, Mon Ami" Gambit said.

"Shut up Remy" Scott said.

"Dis is the thanks I get?" Remy said. "After treatin' you're family so nice too." Scott glared at him.

"Oh boy," Rogue said, wishing she were anywhere but where she was.

"What should I tell Buffy?" Scott asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"The truth," Buffy's voice.

"Uh, hi Buffy…" Scott muttered. He looked at her for a moment. "The truth? Alright, here's what I have gathered. Right after Xander's death' some top secret government agency scooped Xander up. They resuscitated him and then artificially enhanced him. After that they sent him after us. Rogue here got your name and Sunnydale from him during the battle and we came here looking for answers. While we were here, not only did Xander battle The Hulk, but he also went back to the school and attacked them again. A… old friend of Professor Xavier's was able to, hopefully, permanently disable the microchips the government was using to control Xander." Scott said at length.

"Oh," Buffy managed.

"Way to drop the bomb gently, Red Eye" Gambit said.

"Quiet, Remy," Rogue said.

"So Xander is going to be okay?" Buffy asked after a moment.

"Well, physically, yes. But I am afraid that he may be mentally   
debilitated," Scott said.

"But he is alive, anything else, we can work through, right?" Buffy asked.

"I hope so," Scott said.

Xander walked into the airport. He walked down the hall, found his flight number and started towards the terminal. He got in line to wait for the metal detector. Waiting patiently, he watched as the annoying man before him refused to take his coins out of his pocket. 'What an asshole,' Xander thought.

Finally, five minutes later, they pushed the man through and towards his flight; a very unhappy airport security motioned him through the metal detector. Xander stepped through and heard the buzz. He walked back through and emptied his pockets. He walked through again and heard the buzz once more. Realization crashed down on Xander. 'Aw fuck,' he thought.

"Please lift your arms," The security guard said with an exasperated sigh. Xander shared his sigh, spread his arms and closed his eyes in anticipation. The wand began to sing before it even came close. The guard raised an eyebrow as he waved it over his arm. "What is that?" The guard asked.

"Metal plate?" Xander asked in return. Rolling his eyes the security guard continued. Everywhere the wand passed on Xander's body it beeped.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" he asked.

"Would you believe metal plate?" Xander asked.

"Is this some kind of fucking joke?" The security guard asked. Xander rolled his eyes.

One hour and thirty minutes later.

"Great, now what the hell am I supposed to do!" Xander asked in frustration, standing outside the airport where the guards had  
planted him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Xander sighed as, once again, he was wondering New York City. Oh I wonder what wonderful superheros or villians I will run into tonight, Xander thought, sarcasum dripping from his mental voice. He looked up at the darkening sky, his eyes searching the night. Money. That is important. Transportation, also important. I have enough high-tech weaponry on me to, temporarily, take over a small country, and I can't get a damn ride. He glared at a car that sped by. Imagine that, a car, speeding by. In New York. Of course, he thought as the water splashed up and soaked him, that only happens when it's been raining. 'Cause, god forbid, people NOT get splashed while standing on a sidewalk.

Thouroughly disgusted now, Xander rubbed his temples as he planned his next move. Alright, I need to get to Texas, and then home. Lets see... hitchhiking, yeah right... in New York? The only people crazy enough to pick up a hitchhiker in this city are the people you really don't want to get into a car with. Alright... I could... steal a car. Oh yea Xander, thats just you're style. What are you gonna do, walk up and do a arnie, "Give me your clothes, your boots, and your keys?" Go back to the mansion? Maybe.

Xander's musings were interupted by a scream. Wow, he thought, this is becoming a theme or something. Despite all that, he headed in the direction of the scream. The scene he saw before him was something he would remember for some time. He counted six vampires being held at bay by a single man. A man who was dressed in all red, wielding what looked like billy club. He was knocking them around pretty good, but he wasn't going for the kills. Sure, the blows he was giving them would kill normal humans, but a vampire could just shrug them off. He obviously had no idea what he was fighting. Xander came up behind him, ready to help out.

"Run, get away." The figure said.

"I'm here to help, pal," Xander said, a growl forming as he spotted the vampires victim, laying in the alley. Blood dripped from her neck where she had been bitten.

"These things aren't human, I don't know how long I can keep them at bay, get the girl and run," The figure said.

"Yea, they aren't, their vampires. Lucky for us, that happens to be my specialty." Xander said, his fist connecting solidly with the nearest demon animated corpse. It was knocked back as it was hit with Xander's full strength, considerably more then its own. Xander extended the blade in his left forearm was he easily ducked the attack from the next vampire. The blade cut across the vampires neck, seperating head from body, a poof, followed by dust settling signified its end.

For his part, Matt Murdoc was having trouble with these new opponents. Since their hearts did not beat, he had trouble keeping tabs on where they were. He had been blind sided more then once, no pun intended. This new ally seemed to know what worked against them, as three of their opponents were now gone. The slight change in the air pressure around his head, combined with the slight sound of the air wafting away from the fist, allowed Matt to duck the blow that now shot harmlessly over his head. He flipped his club around and caught the extended arm at the elbow, he heard a satifying crack as the joint snapped. A moment later he heard the same sound he had heard three times before, the abrupt "poof", that came to signal the end of one of their opponents. He heard clattering feet, two sets, leading away from the fight. He stood down slowly, his posture becoming relaxed.

Xander looked over at the man beside him. He had some amazing reflexes, almost as good as his own, he was more then able to admit. He saw the two D's on his chest now that he looked more closely. Xander retracted the single claw that he had extended while fighting the vampires. It was so easy, he thought with a slight smile. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? He wondered idlely.

"Thanks for the help," The man said.

"No problem, man," Xander said.

"Names Daredevil," he said.

"Xander," was the young mans reply.

"Nice to meet you," Daredevil said.

"Ditto."

"I'm going to get this woman to the hospital, okay?" Daredevil said.

"Sure man," Xander said.

"Sir," a major said, "All of the Sentinel's have been destroyed."

"Why am I not surprised by this, Jones?" Ross said.

"Because we made Alexander too powerful for our own good, Sir?" Major Jones said. He was uncomfortable, none of the staff would even get near General Ross. The older man was livid with anger and it was like it oozed out of his pores.

"Exactly. I want the security on this base trippled, Major. I want every man wearing a uniform to have a gun in his hands at all times, understood?" Ross said.

"But sir, Alexander is bulletproof," Major Jones gulped at the look he recieved.

"No shit, But hopefully the noise will give us enough time to get the hell out of dodge," Ross said.

Xander looked down at the city below him. The night life played on, as if the darkness inherint in it did not exist. He could understand their blindness. Mutants and supernatually enhanced villians, who would take the time to notice vampires and demons? A select few. It was funny how all the forms of darkness had a form of light to battle it. Demons and vampires had hunters and slayers. Mutants and superpowered villians had mutant and superpowered heros. Outlaws and criminals had the police. Unfortunately for Xander, he wasn't quite sure how he fit in. One day at a time, one enemy at a time, he reminded himself. He looked across the street to the Baxter building in front of him. The Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four.

"Contemplating asking Reed Richards for assistance in your quest for revenge," Xander heard a voice say. He swung around, his arms coming up in a defensive stance. "Fear not, Defender, I am not here to cause you harm," The voice said. Attached to the voice was a man, a man who wore a purple cloak. Dark hair topped his head with the exception of the grey that spread from his temples. A gotee covered his chin, and his brown eyes pierced into Xanders.

"What's it to you," Xander asked.

"I would think that you would realize that our mutual friend Mr. Richards, would be unlikely to help you exact the revenge you are planning. Well, what you think you are planning, at least." the man said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Xander asked.

"Nothing," The figure smiled at Xander.

"You are a pain in the ass, you know that?" Xander said.

"Many would say the same of you, my young friend," The figure said.

"You know what, I had enough of this criptic bullshit from Angel, and I am not about to take it from you," Xander growled, turning to stalk away.

"What if I told you I could get you to Texas, and where ever you wished to go after that, in five minutes?" The figure asked.

"I would ask you what you name is," Xander said.

"Strange, Doctor Steven Strange," The figure said.

General Thadeus E. Ross paced his office. The trippled secutirty on the base doing little to ease his dark mood. He wondered for a moment if he should call Walsh and give he a heads up on the situation. He ruled that out with a smirk. She created this problem in the first place, she can deal with it on her own. Disgusted with himself for hiding like a child, he turned to leave his office. He was halfway to the door when the lights flickered and died around him. He refused to panic, knowing the generators would come on in a moment. The lights returned a moment later, however, Ross decided it was a good time to panic.

Standing less then three feet away from him was his worst nightmare. The black-armored man had a glare fixed on him that might make a lesser man wet themselves, For his part, Ross only gulped and stumbled back, falling on his ass. Xander stalked towards him, his eyes gleaming with hatred. His hand closed around the general's collar. He pulled the much older man to his feet and looked him in the eye.

"The files on Walsh. I want them, everything you have. The location of her base of operations, blue prints, background. I want everything you have on her, and I want it now, General." The title with such venom, it almost made Ross ashamed of it. He pointed weakly at the filing cabinate near his desk. Xander threw him back, into the wall farthest from door. He walked over to the filing cabinate and pulled the locked drawer from it. Laying the now broken drawer on the desk he rumaged through it until he found what he was looking for. He turned back to Ross.

"Stay away from me, my friends, and especially the X-men. If you so much as think about hurting any of us, I will know. Where ever you go, what ever you do. I will find you. If I am forced to search for you, Ross, I will not be so polite in our next meeting." With that, the light gave a slight flicker and the young man was gone.

Xander stood quietly in the small lawn in front of the frat house. His dark eyes seaching the facade with a critical eye.

"I found these, I thought they might be useful," Xander heard Strange's voice. He glanced over and saw a box at Stephens feet. He walked over to it and looked in side. He saw a half dozen of the visor's Ross had given him. He looked at it with disgust pulling away, just as Stephen put up a comforting hand.

"Xander, these are tools. Just like the other enhancements you have recieved from these evil people. As long as you use them to help those who would be victims, you are deying the purpose you were created to serve. I say, use them, use everything they give you. Turn it to the purpose of good, for the benefit of our people." Stephen said.

"Why are you helping me, Stephen?" Xander asked.

"Because, Xander, you will fight the forces of darkness, in whatever form they manifest. Be it supernatural, mutant or human. There are few in this world who would choose a life of such hardship. Many would pick a single enemy, and fight that enemy, and endure the hardships inherint in such a battle. You however, have seen the evil in three forms, and you choose to fight all three. It is my opinion that you are aptly named, Alexander. Protector of humanity, even from itself if need be, eh?" Stephen asked with a small smile.

"What if I can't handle all this?" Xander said.

"Then it will kill you, Xander," Stephen said, "But you will die trying. You see Xander, that is the problem with being a good guy. No matter how many times you win, no matter how many plots to destroy or concur earth you thwart, there will always be another. All you can do is fight until you die, and hope that someone will pick up the ball before it shatters. But I have faith in you, my young friend."

"I'm scared," Xander admited.

"And that, my young friend, gives me more hope then you could ever imagine," Stephen said with a small smile, before teleporting himself away.

Xander thought, a length, about what he and Dr. Strange had discussed. Then a smile slowly crept along his lips, he would not be alone, he knew enough about his friends to know that. Even if Buffy would not forgive him for his actions, he knew that Xavier and the X-men wouldn't turn him away. With a renewed sense of self, he stalked towards the frat house with the words "Lowell House" on it.

He didn't pause as he kicked the door open, he didn't pause as the alarm sounded. He didn't pause as the stungun hit is armor with no effect. He didn't pause when the young man with blonde hair rushed him, he continued to walk even as he backhanded the boy. He didn't pause as the door to the lab below was destoryed by the force of his adamantium enforced blows.

"Doctor Walsh, I do believe that Alexander is paying us a visit," A rather calm high-ranking scientist commented, "And I don't think its a social call."

"I want Specimin two released, now." Walsh said, her voice some-what less calm.

"But, we have only been able to install the nanites and physical enhancements, we have no control-" A lower level tech began.

"Do it," Walsh screamed.

"Yes ma'am" The tech said.

Xander knocked another young soldier to the ground, still walking towards his destination. Several low level demons and vampires has been released to hold him off, but Xander had dispatched them with little trouble. He could see the door now. Only a few feet away, so close, but as he would quickly realize, so far away.

"Hello, lover," Xander heard an all too familiar voice from behind him, he paused. He turned slowly, his eyes closed, hoping what he heard and what he saw would not be the same. His eyes opened.

"Did ya miss me, Boy toy?" The female voice asked.

"Faith," Xanders said softly.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hello, Faith." Xander managed to choke out after a moment of shock and despair. She grinned at him as she stalked closer, her hips swaying seductively. "That's close enough Faith," He said, his hand moving between them.

"What's wrong, lover? Didn't you miss me?" She said, her eyes taking him in, "You're looking fitter then ever, all that black looks good on you," She said.

"I'm sorry Faith, I am sorry I couldn't stop them before they got to you," He said, his arms coming up in a defensive stance.

"Get to me, lover? I voulenteered. Power to take down Buffy, and anyone else in my way? Shit. I'd take that any day," She said. She smirked once more. "They haven't finished powerin' me up yet, so I can't have you killin them 'til they do, Boy toy."

"I won't let them do this to anyone else Faith, especially not you," Xander said. Faith cleared the distance between them in a single leap, throwing a punch at him mid-leap. Xander was caught off guard by her speed, she was faster then he remembered. That was all a moot point he decided, when her fist connected with his chin. The force of the blow knocked him off his feet and caused him to slide a short distance on his back. He started to get to his feet, shaking his head to clear it. Before he was fully to his feet she was on him again. A kick caught him at his hip-level cheek. He spun with the force, using it to preform a sweep that caught her at the back of her lower shin.

With a grunt she hit the ground, and Xander stood up, trying to get some room between them. She stronger and faster then he remembered, quiet possibly stronger and faster then him. He took a single step away from her, before she grabbed his foot and pulled him back down. Faith straddled his hips, and smiled down at him.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" She puntuated her sentance with a flurry of punches that slammed into Xander's armored head and face, causing his head to become rattled. With a roar, Xander rapped his hands around her wrists and squeezed with all his strength. She moaned in pain, Xander thrust his hips up, causing her to loose her placement. He rolled ontop of her and glared down at her.

"None I want to relive right at this moment, Faith," He gurgled at the end of the sentance as her legs wrapped around his waist and squeezed. Her hand came free of his, her wrist already healed, and caught his throat. She squeezed once his throat, choking him. Xander gasped as the pressure started to build. He pulled at her hand, tried to force her off. Everything he tried, she countered. Left with little choice, Xander did the one thing he really didn't want to.

Sknnt

Xander felt sick as the blade shot out of his wrist, the metalic blade gleamed in the floursent lighting. Faith followed the length of the blade to the tip with her eyes.

"It's not that big," She said. In he distraction Xander was able to free her hand from his throat. He gasped in prescious air for a moment, before slamming his forehead into hers. The adamantium skin over his foreheard, reinforced by the adamantium grafted to the ouside of his skull, bashed into Faiths nose. Her eyes rolled back and closed. He felt her go limp under him and he physically pulled himself out of her grasp. He stood, looking down at her.

"I can't just leave ya here all helpless, can I?" He asked, more to himself. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"So you're leaving tomorrow?" Buffy asked, quietly. Scott only nodded in return. "If you hear anything about Xander..."

"You'll be the first one I call, Buffy," Scott said. "I have a bad feeling about all this, I think he is in trouble."

"Well that's obvious. Xander is always in trouble. Anytime someone needs saving, it's his thing. But he can never save himself." Buffy said with some sadness.

"That is why he has you, and now me and the X-men. I have a feeling that our next reunion will be sooner then the last." Scott said.

"So do I Scott, I just don't know if that is a good thing," Buffy said.

"Whatever happens, we'll get through it, we always do, Right?" Scott said. Buffy just nodded.

"Logan, contact Scott. Let him know I have lost contact with Xander. Also tell him I have reason to believe he will be heading to Sunnydale." Charles Xavier said. Looking at the offical boarding list for the flight to Texas, noticing Xander wasn't on it.

"Sure Chuck, but what about the Kid? I'd like to go after him. I know what he is going through, he's going to need help." Logan said.

"We can only hope that he realizes that also, Logan. If he doesn't the world may become a very dark place for that young man." Charles said softly.

The man known as Doctor Strange watched the events involving Xander unfold with sorrow on his face. He saw the boys destiny, he knew what had to be done. That didn't make putting the boy through all this hardship any easier.

"Have Faith," Strange said with a slight smirk, "and all will turn out well, Alexander."

"Allen I think we should leave, now." Walsh said, looking at the security moniter in front of her.

"I think it is a little late for that, Doctor." Allen said, his eyes looking at the only exit from the room.

"We have to do something!" She said, reaching for the computer.

"What would you have us do, Walsh? We will fight him, and we will lose, and he will kill us. It is what we deserve." Allen said.

"Don't tell me you're having an attack of a conscience, now." Walsh said.

"I suppose I am," He said, "I've heard if you're really sorry you can get into heaven anyway." sarcasm dripping from his tone. All conversations were cut short as the door in front of them burst open, revealing the black armored weapon they had created.

"It's ironic, don't you think?" Xander smirked, glaring at Walsh, "Well Mrs. Frankinstine, it's time to poney up the bill." Faith slung over his right shoulder and his left forearm blade pointed menacingly at her. Allen rushed at Xander, only to meet a boot to the face. He crumpled to the ground and Xander continued past him.

"We can work this out, Alexander," Walsh started. "Look at you, so powerful. You were nothing when I found you. Just a little boy in over his head. Cannon fodder. Now look at you. You've made me so proud."

"Proud? You are proud of this?" Xander asked, anger in his voice. "Well, I'm glad that I could be all that you made me." He dropped Faith on the ground uncermoniously.

"You are, you're nothing like the helpess child you were before. The child that couldn't even stop his father from beating him. Nevermind help that poor girl kill vampires. Nor could you save Faith, here, from the path that brought her to my doorstep. No Alexander, I knew she wouldn't stand a chance against you. You are perfect."

"Perfect anger. Perfect hatred. Prefect Revenge," Xander said, throwing the desk between them away.

"What is it that girl called you? The Zeppo?" Walsh asked, unflinching.

"Cordelia," He whispered. Something made him move, something he couldn't understand. He sway just so slightly to the left, barely avoiding the lamp that cut the air where he was a moment ago. He half turned and punched the apparently now awake Faith in the face. She fell back, away from him. Walsh decided that was distraction enough and launched herself at him. Xanders hand came up to defend himself, Blade still extended. He turned to look in the womans eyes as the life drained from them. They were accusing him. Accusing him of not being good enough, accusing him of being a loser. Finally they stared blankly, and Xander retracted the blade, Walsh fell lifelessly to the ground in front of him.

"I am the Zeppo no more," Xander whispered.

"Holy shit, X, you killed her. Damn man, I didn't think you had it in you." Faith said.

"It was an accident..." Xander started.

"Keep telling yourself that, Boytoy." Faith smirked. A loose vampire crashed into the office. Faith caught it and threw it, forcing it to impale on the now upturned table leg.

"Wow Faith, didn't know you were still in to stakin vamps," Xander said.

"It was an accident," Faith said.

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetie," Xander said with a sugary grin.

Xander half carried half dragged Faith out of Lowell House. Apparently most of the soldiers/staff left during his assault.

"Wow, who stays with a sinking boat anymore these days?" Xander asked of no one in particular. Of course, a screaming, punching, and yes, bitting Faith decided not to answer.

"You know, this would be so much easier if you would just walk," Xander said, ignoring the very upset young womans attempts to get free.

"Help! Pervert!" Faith screamed as a last resort.

"Now Faith, as I recall, you were most willing," Xander said.

"Let me go!" She screamed.

"Okay," Xander said, dropping her. She hit the ground with a thud and a groan.

"Thanks a lot, asshole." She mumbled from the ground.

"What was that darling?" Xander asked.

"I said," Faith said standing up, "Thanks a lot, asshole." She lifted her knee into his crotch and met nothing but metal. "Oww."

"That wasn't nice," Xander said.

"Yea well... I ain't sugar or spice or any of that sweet shit," Faith said.

"Yes, I know, and thats why everyone loves you," Xander said with a smirk.

"Shut up," Faith said.

"How rude," Xander said, a smooth confidence in his voice. That confidence was, of course, a facade. Inside, Xander was breaking down. He had killed Walsh, wheather he meant to or not. He wanted to do it and he had. What were you gonna do? Bust into her top secret lab, toss her toys around, and give her a warning? Well, yeah, that had been the plan. His inner monologue was cut short when Faith turned to run away.

"Where are you going to go?" Xander asked a familiar question as he grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

"I don't know," Faith said, "and it's none of you're damn buisness."

"You're wrong. I let you out of there. I set you free. I am responsible for you're actions, even if its only to myself. I'm sorry Faith but you aren't getting ten feet away from me." Xander said.

"Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. FUCK YOU!" Faith ranted. Xander watched her scream at him with an impassive gaze.

"Are you quite done?" Xander asked.

"Yah, all ya yappin is enough to raise the dead, you bloody bint." A voice said from behind Xander. His gaze turned in that direction, in time to see Spike walk out of the night.

"Hi Spike." Xander said.

"Hi Droopy!" Spike said with false cheerfulness.

"Bye Spike!" Xander said with heartfelt cheerfulness as his forearm blade extended and decapitated the rather annoying British vamp.

"Wow," Faith said quietly.

"Yeah, imagine that." Xander said. "What a way to make things all better, don't you think?" Xander said. Faith shrugged.

"So where to now, Boy Toy?" Faith asked.

"I think it's time we saw some mutual friends." Xander said. The results of this statement were predictible and Xander was forced to knock Faith unconscious, again.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later Logan, tell everyone I said hello. No don't worry I'll be careful with him." Scott said. He pressed the end button on his cell phone and closed it.

"What was that all about?" Buffy asked.

"That was Logan, another X-man, he said that Xander disappeared. They say he missed his flight to Texas for some reason, so they think he is coming here. I am supposed to stay here until he gets here," Scott said. The doorbell rung, which was followed by a shriek of "I got it".

"Xander?" Dawns voice came from the living room. Scott and Buffy rushed to the door. Standing in the porchlight was Xander, Faith slung over his shoulder, with a slight smile on his face.

"Hi honey, I'm home."


End file.
